Cracking blows echoed across the wasteland as Zae Zin Nim fought her husband.
Their fists flew between them, and since Kai was holding back, they could trade blow for blow. Without him using his monstrous skills, Zae Zin Nim was still the better martial artist, so she eventually brushed aside his arm and struck his chest with her palm.
Her blow struck true, but the explosion of qi pushed her back. Zae Zin Nim skidded back several paces, kicking up two lines of dust, staring at her palm in surprise the entire time.
"Wow, completing the Body Refinement stage makes a difference." Kai brushed off his chest in wonder. "Do you think it's going to take me even longer to finish the Nascent Foundation stage, though? At the rate I'm going, that feels like it might take forever."
"It may be slower because your dantian and meridians are so thick," she answered, "but I do not think your body will be soaking up so much of your cultivation. Of course, the path to Earth Soul is even longer. You saw how long it took me, and I was fortunate in many factors."
That was her true opinion, but Zae Zin Nim felt a flicker of an old fear as she spoke. If Kai did begin to cultivate at normal speed, combined with his other powers, he would surpass her completely. Surely, if that happened, he wouldn't change. She knew him too well, as a cultivator and as a man, and traveling on Cloudspire hadn't seemed to change him despite all the temptations. And yet...
"Do you think you can reach Sky Soul?" Kai's serious expression split in a grin that almost washed away her fears. "I mean, obviously you will eventually, but do you think you can reach it in a reasonable amount of time?"
"Conventional wisdom is that ten years between Earth and Sky Souls is very fast." Zae Zin Nim spoke briskly, but that easy smile warmed her. Even now, in this moment of glory, he was thinking about her. "Many others have taken decades. It partially depends on how long we can remain hidden while finding intense sources of qi."
"Then I think you're right to focus on advancing with mana first. Better to be prepared, just in case things go wrong."
"Tell me if you want a different one," Kai was saying, "but the pool I had in mind is just ahead..."
She felt it a moment later and her eyes lit up. Zae Zin Nim rushed to the edge of the rock and stared down into the pit, feeling the power call to her. Blue mana crackled in the base of the pool, burning with intense cold. Not quite like her own power, but close enough for her to absorb and advance.
"This is perfect," she said, her eyes growing moist. "Thank you."
"Get back!" The gruff voice interrupted them both and Zae Zin Nim spun rapidly to defend herself.
There was a burly Western Wilds cultivator standing there with his arms folded, and in that moment another one landed beside him. "Don't touch our pit," the second growled. They were both flexing their muscles and glowering, clearly trying to scare them away from the power.
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Zae Zin Nim nearly laughed. The two of them only had around 500 Power and their Earth Souls were unimpressive, the sort that the Brightwind sect scorned as rushing to inferior power. If they thought their muscles alone were impressive, they were sorely outmatched by Kai looming at her side. There was no question that she could win the duel, though it still had to be done properly. Everything should have been easy... yet Zae Zin Nim found herself slightly anxious as she thought about the duel.
Not the result, but what she intended to do during it.
"We're with the Bloodcoral sect," Kai said, showing his medallion. Zae Zin Nim reluctantly held hers up as well. "We'd like to challenge you for this mana pool."
"That has to go through your sect." One of the cultivators frowned and looked at the other. "Don't they have rules about that? Come back when you have official permission."
"Get ready. We've been waiting for this a long time."
Kai's confidence in her was encouraging, yet that only increased her anxiety. They leapt onto his sword and flew back toward the Bloodcoral sect's camp, which gave her the pleasant opportunity to lean against him. Everything about their relationship was so good, this had to be perfect. She hadn't realized that she was putting so much weight onto this.
What made Zae Zin Nim so nervous was that she hadn't told Kai anything about her new palm technique, keeping it out of her stories of the Pureflower sect. It wasn't a lie, really, she just wanted to surprise him. He was always changing and growing, she wanted to show him something that would impress him. The technique functioned, but it felt rough to her compared to the abilities refined by generations... she was so anxious that she was afraid it wouldn't work at all.
Fortunately, she didn't need to make any serious decisions, she could just follow after Kai. When they reached the tents he introduced her to another Bloodcoral cultivator named Cor Li Xan. He was younger than the elder she'd met earlier and stared at her body, which dragged her back to the present. She wanted only Kai to stare at her.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Cor Li Xan said with a low bow. "What is a beautiful flower like you doing with a barbarian like him?"
"I am here to advance." Zae Zin Nim shoved the coral medallion in his face. "We have the requisite marks, correct?"
"I understand you want to take on one of the most valuable pits, and that requires seven marks to-"
"I just advanced to Nascent Foundation," Kai said, raising his medallion as well. "Can you take care of this for me? You said I should find someone else to fight with me, so I found someone. But it took a while, so we're in a bit of a hurry."
Cor Li Xan took a second glance at his soul, then reluctantly took his medallion and added two more crystal marks around the edge. That accomplished, there was nothing the cultivator could do to stop them. He joined up with the old man named Cor Yan Wei and they went to speak to the Scorpion tribe to arrange the duel.
Words were spoken about the match, just buzzing in her ears. As she stepped onto the stone arena, Zae Zin Nim repeated the steps of her new technique in her head so many times she felt faint. The two champions from before were moving opposite her, boasting and posing for the eager crowd, and she barely paid attention to them.
"Incredible! It looks like her skin has never seen sunlight!"
"Is she one of the four most beautiful women in the Blueblade sect?"
"Which one could she be? Are those Pureflower robes?"
When the comments about her began, Zae Zin Nim was finally pulled from her own thoughts. There had been a time, long ago, when such comments were a bit gratifying. Now she was just angry that so many people were staring at her when she just cared about one. The Bloodcoral cultivators remained silent, watching more skeptically, as if wondering just who Kai had found.
Well, she would show them all.
A gong rang to start the match and Zae Zin Nim leapt forward with her full speed. Her opponent raised both fists, summoning twin scorpion tails the width of his own body, and arched them forward to stab her. Zae Zin Nim simply raised her palm and thrust it forward.
The Coldfire Palm burst forth from her soul, qi and mana fusing perfectly. It exploded to the size of her entire body, a palm of blue flame that swept forward. It burned away both scorpion tails in an instant and struck the champion like a solid wall, sending him flying away from the arena in a trail of blood. When he hit the ground, the way he lay still, there was no question that the match was over.
Everyone was staring at her: the other champion intimidated, the crowd silent for once, the Bloodcoral cultivators shocked. But what mattered was that Kai was watching her, eyes filled with admiration, and in that moment it was all worth it.