Chapter 14: Breaking Through

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Lily was surrounded!
The sharp-eared crones riding lions galloped atop terrifying white lions, as if savoring the imminent capture of their prey.
From their blue eyes gleamed a frenzy of delight.
Because the prey had nowhere left to run.
“Roar!”
With a thunderous roar, blue energy surged around the white lions.
The lion riders shouted fiercely, urging their mounts to charge straight at Lily.
Lily watched the white lion pounce toward her.
She gathered the energy in her dantian, swiftly condensing the surrounding ethereal qi.
Strength and a single word pierced her body and soul:
Fight!
With a leap, Lily brushed past the crazed white lion’s charge.
Her spatial ring responded, and the broken bronze sword was drawn.
With one strike, she aimed at the white lion rider’s neck.
The sword pierced directly toward the crone’s carotid artery.
“Clang!”
But the blow, infused with sky-blue energy, did not spray blood.
The rider’s iron gorget blocked the deadly strike.
“Damn it!”
Lily cursed inwardly but quickly thought of a plan.
Though her grasp of ethereal qi was still immature, she risked pouring more energy into the broken sword.
The sky-blue qi condensed on the blade and surged forward fiercely.
“Boom!”
Accompanied by the crackling clash of ethereal qi, the white lion rider’s energy shield shattered, and a hole was blasted through her neck.
The reckless, mad crone paid the price for her recklessness.
But the danger was far from over.
The white lion beneath the fallen rider let out a mournful, furious roar.
Its claws, cloaked in ethereal qi, came slashing at Lily.
The beast’s swift strike caught Lily off guard.
She could only erect a thick energy shield before her.
Years ago, a mysterious woman had taught Lily to use ethereal qi—this included the “full-body energy shield” that enveloped her and the thicker shield, like a handheld barrier, capable of blocking fatal blows.
Yet this thick shield was not as solid as she imagined.
With a crisp crack, the white lion’s claws tore through Lily’s shield.
“Your strength is not yet great enough.”
The claws lunged toward her forehead.
The woman’s voice echoed in Lily’s mind.
“Damn it.”
Lily clenched her short sword, ready to fight the terrifying beast to the death.
But just as the claws were about to strike—
The space before Lily suddenly tore open.
“Whoosh!”
A white light shot out, piercing the white lion’s skull at dazzling speed.
The once arrogant lion let out a pitiful wail and collapsed instantly.
It was an ethereal qi spear shot from an unknown origin.
“Damn it, what is that qi?!”
The white lion riders in the ambush were thrown into chaos.
Before they could react, another ethereal spear flew out from the rift,
Like a precision sniper rifle, cutting down the blocking riders one after another.
“Damn it! Damn it!”
“What exactly is that thing?!”
“Keep moving! Keep moving!”
“It’s got to be that evil god, that evil god’s…”
Before the words finished, the leader of the white lion riders was struck in the forehead by the spear—her sturdy iron helmet, protected by her personal energy shield, was instantly pierced.
The rift tore open and closed repeatedly, continuously shooting ethereal spears that shattered the invading crones one by one.
Lily watched the swiftly opening and closing rifts, shaken by the spectacle.
“L-Lady, hurry… run!”
The intermittent voice of the true god reached Lily’s ears.
Lily hastened with ethereal qi bolstering her strength, rushing toward the wing of the rift completely torn apart by the ethereal spears.
Finally, she broke through the encirclement.
But after only a few hundred meters through mud and corpses, she heard the roar of the white lions behind her.
Yet, the sharp shots of the ethereal spears did not sound again.
The chase was still ongoing.
“Those damn bastards.”
Lily swung her arms, relying on the qi-enhanced strength and speed surpassing normal humans as she ran north toward Donglai City.

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Though in terms of running speed, the robust white lions enhanced by ethereal qi could easily catch up to Lily’s two legs on the run.
But the northern outskirts of Donglai City were not suitable for cavalry pursuit—it was a great mossy plain.
Originally, outside the north gate of Donglai City was a bustling trade route for southern merchants, and with the city’s population growth, a town had gradually formed there.
In the rapid assault by the Stardust Army, the town, which should have been burned by the Dong Song Army defending the city, was spared.
Of course, the townsfolk either fled or fell beneath the blades of the white lion riders.
Lily’s foot struck the muddy ground of the northern town, splattering bloodied mud.
The whole town had been efficiently slaughtered, evident in the hastily built “Star Sight” made of severed heads by the white lion riders.
A pitiful cat-tribe mother lay in a pool of blood, her head severed and placed atop the “Star Sight,” leaving a charred corpse consumed by ethereal flames.
A child, half-burned with half a skull remaining, died with unclosed eyes.
Though used to corpses and skeletons, Lily’s heart ached deeply.
“Damn beasts.”
She pushed forward with ethereal qi, passing by an elderly cat-tribe man pierced by dozens of ethereal arrows.
He clutched a finely crafted porcelain urn tightly.
The urn bore his son’s name—a bone ash container.
But on the urn, scorched by ethereal fire, were yellow urine stains left by the white lions.
“You can’t escape, you can’t escape~ hahaha~ you’re just a key made of flesh, come obediently to me!”
Fenrir’s sinister voice echoed again in Lily’s mind.
Yet the true god’s voice was silent.
Lily yearned desperately to hear the old man’s voice,
But all she heard was the growing roar of the white lions closing behind her.
“Damned things.”
To evade pursuit, Lily dashed into deserted houses littered with corpses.
She planned to weave through the houses, using the cluster of dwellings to shake off the speed-advantaged white lion riders.
But as Lily reached to open a door, a long sword suddenly thrust out from it.
The blade’s edge grazed her cheek.
Lily summoned her qi with all her might to dodge.
Intense ethereal flames scorched her right cheek, leaving burns that made her brow furrow tightly from the sharp pain.
Then, the massive claws of a white lion shattered the door.
A tall white lion rider emerged.
In the split second Lily dodged, she saw the beast beneath the rider was far more muscular than ordinary white lions.
Its massive fangs, razor-sharp, lunged toward Lily’s head.
“Which crone is this? Damn it!”
Lily leapt backward, narrowly avoiding the attack.
But the towering warrior swiftly swung her battle sword toward Lily’s cheek.
The sword stabbed straight at her face.
With no room to evade, Lily quickly drew the broken sword from her ring, attempting to block the strike.
Though she had infused it with sufficient ethereal qi,
The rider’s powerful thrust sent Lily flying several meters backward.
She crashed heavily through the door of the opposite alley.
Dust and debris filled the air.
“Ugh…”
Lily fell, chest aching fiercely, coughing up a mouthful of fresh blood.
But battle left no room for weakness—this was the lesson the woman had once taught her.
Blood trickled down her forehead, pooling over the scar near her left eye.
Still, she gritted her teeth and sprang to her feet.
Before her stood the fierce warrior in full view.
Over two meters tall, clad in blue-patterned iron lamellar armor,
Her armor was enveloped in a thick personal energy shield.
On her shoulder plate roared a black iron lion’s head, mirroring the black lion emblem on her iron mask.
“Company, sisters!”
The warrior shouted fiercely.
At both ends of the street where they stood, dozens of white lion riders with long swords closed in,
Their battle lions leaping onto rooftops, glaring down at lonely Lily.
The warrior regarded the panting, bloodied Lily with a delighted chuckle.
“She’s to live, but let her suffer a little!”
Facing the arrogant foe, Lily shook the broken sword in her hand.
She met the proud gaze behind the iron mask,
Spat a mouthful of blood,
And sky-blue ethereal qi surged again from her dantian, enveloping her body.
A faint smile appeared on Lily’s face.
“Fuck you!”

…

“Damn crone!”
Lily gasped for breath as she stumbled through the alleys,
Her broken bronze sword smeared with blood and scattered energy.
A deep sword wound decorated her right shoulder, with lingering dark-blue ethereal qi attempting to burn through her shield.
“Damn crone…”

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Lily leaned against the alley wall, her once delicate face stained with blood, mud, and filth.
She had no time to wipe her face, only applying some sky-blue qi to her wound, trying to burn away the enemy’s energy,
But was met with searing pain.
“Can’t stop, can’t… the grudge isn’t settled… only after revenge can you die, Lily!”
She bit her teeth and rose from the filthy alley mud.
But behind her, the white lions roared once more.
“Catch her, she won’t run far.”
Lily forced herself up, but the deep wound in her right shoulder throbbed fiercely.
“It hurts so much…”
“She’s here! The key is here!”
“Don’t hurt the key, Lord Star God needs that one!”
Footsteps drew closer,
The clatter of lamellar armor ringing like the bells of death.
Lily struggled forward but finally collapsed from the pain.
Before her vision darkened, she seemed to see the tall sword-wielding warrior standing before her.
Just moments ago, this towering figure, seeming more mountain than woman, blocked Lily’s path with a massive sword.
No matter how Lily summoned her qi or tried to slip past with agile moves,
The huge sword struck like a fierce bear, smashing toward her body with brutal speed.
The dark blue ethereal qi on the blade ignited ethereal flames as it struck nearby houses.
“Damn! Damn it!”
Lily dodged left, seeking to slip through a gap in the mountain-like warrior’s defense, but her path was completely blocked.
The great sword struck again, its power seeming capable of cleaving stone, smashing into Lily’s shoulder.
“Pft!”
Blood gushed from her broken energy shield, the blade tearing through leather armor and flesh alike.
Lily nearly fainted from the pain, the broken sword slipping from her grasp.
At that moment, she saw the space before her tear open again.
An ethereal spear shot at the warrior.
The warrior reacted swiftly, spinning her sword to generate a thick energy shield, attempting to block the attack.
“Bang!”
Though she blocked it, the force threw her back over ten meters, and her shield shattered.
The ethereal spear slammed into the white lion riders attempting to close in.
Lily seized the chance to slip into another alley.

…

“Could it be… I’m going to die here…”
Lily’s consciousness blurred.
She could move no further.
The white lion riders gradually closed in from both ends of the street,
While the towering warrior proudly rested her sword on her shoulder, as if admiring her prey.
“Damn it… this might really be the end.”
Captain Solna grinned triumphantly at the imminent capture.
She smiled, about to signal her sisters to seize the wounded Lily.
“For the Star God.”
Solna murmured in her heart.
Yet just as the white lion riders roared and charged,
The space before Lily tore open again, flooding with ethereal qi.
“I’m here, girl, I’m here.”
The true god’s warm voice came through the ethereal transmission.
A white mist transformed into a gentle hand,
Lifting Lily and swiftly drawing her back into the rift.
Solna gathered her qi to pursue,
But the rift closed precisely one second after Lily jumped in.
Several riders nearly lost control of their lions and crashed into the houses across the street.
“Damn it, that key really has someone backing her—our commander was right.”
“Captain, what now?”
Solna removed her iron mask, revealing a determined and handsome face.
“Sisters,”
She transmitted via qi,
“The hunt for the key is temporarily suspended. Our commander orders us to search and eliminate all remaining enemies outside the north gate.”
Solna stored her sword in her ring and glanced back at the still-burning Donglai City.
“Repeat, sisters, any cat-tribes found are to be killed without mercy! Repeat, kill without mercy!”
With the white lion riders trampling through blood and mud charging north,
A new hunt and slaughter was about to begin.
But the Star People’s plot to capture Lily had once again failed.