57

"Oi! Xiao bitch! (AN: Xiao can mean 'little' in Chinese. Yu Wu basically called her 'little bitch'.) This young mistress and her 'spirit beast' have some unfinished business with you!" Yu Wu shouted as the three of them reached the pagoda in the center of the sect's compound.

The pagoda was relatively small, only about four or five stories tall. The square shaped building stood out over the rest of the sect's buildings. It had the typical red roof of a Chinese pagoda. A large, open plaza sat in front of the pagoda, with a few NTR disciples lurking around the area.

Onari's expression steeled itself as he saw the state of the disciples that were lingering around the pagoda. These 'inner disciples' were even thinner and tired-looking than the ones he had seen before. Xiao Li was obviously sucking the sect dry for her own personal gain.

There was a crashing boom from within the pagoda. A squawk of indignation could be heard as a window on the upper floors opened. Xiao Li jumped out the window, landing gracefully upon the plaza. Her furious expression betrayed the act of grace and dignity Xiao Li was putting on.

"Ah," Xiao Li said, gritting her teeth. "If it isn't the young mistress? What wonderful news! To what do we owe the honor of having you visit?"

Yu Wu scoffed, "Cut the shit, bitch. This young mistress is here to pay back your disrespect a thousand times. The little bit of 'face' you're giving me is fooling no one."

"Very well… I guess the time for politeness has passed."

"Bitch, you were never polite."

"You shall die a death of a thousand cuts," Xiao Li hissed.

Yu Wu smirked, "This young mistress would like to see your flat ass try."

Xiao Li's parasol opened up behind her as a green backdrop with the sun shining through. She flicked open a war fan. Light glinted off the steel edge of the fan. She flourished her weapon, hiding her veiled face and twisted snarl from view for a moment.

Her parasol came around from behind to hide her movements. Still concealed behind the umbrella, Xiao Li took a single step forward. That step was all it took for her to completely cover the distance between her and Yu Wu.

The umbrella closed in a flash, thrusting out to spear Yu Wu through the heart. Cool as ice, one of Yu Wu's fingers tapped the spiked parasol on the side, pushing it away from her chest. Her other hand came up. Without even making a fist, Yu Wu struck out at Xiao Li.

A fleshy smack rang out over the plaza as Yu Wu's palm slapped against Xiao Li's cheek. Xiao Li stumbled. Yu Wu's strike was obviously not intended to hurt. It was to send a message.

"You disrespected me and mine. I will pay back that disrespect. I will take every semblance of face that you have and slap it until your cheeks are red and you are crying. Only then will you know the sweet embrace of death," Yu Wu's slap said.

Xiao Li sputtered as the meaning of Yu Wu's strike set in, "Y-Y-You dare!?"

"Indeed," Yu Wu calmly replied. "This young mistress dares."

Xiao Li's eyes narrowed in absolute anger. Her veil did almost nothing to hide the thin line her lips had been set in. She subconsciously pulled on the secret sect array. The inner disciples around the courtyard gasped, falling to their knees as life force was forcibly sucked out of them.

Leaves made of green Wood Qi began to materialize in the air around Xiao Li. An unseen wind picked them up and whirled them around the enraged cultivator. She closed and opened her war fan like she was tensing and relaxing a muscle.

Across from her, Yu Wu smoothly drew her sword at an unhurried pace. She twirled it in her hand. The blade sang as it cut through the air. Raised in front of her with the tip pointed directly at Xiao Li, Yu Wu's sword looked ready to cut through the very fabric of space itself. Sword intent danced up and down the edge of the blade, coiling like a viper ready to strike.

Xiao Li hissed like the snake she was. 'How fitting,' Yu Wu mused within her mind. She waited patiently, allowing her opponent to make the first move. Yu Wu had expected to feel angrier when she confronted Xiao Li. She had expected fiery rage to be running through her veins. But after seeing Xiao Li, she found that her rage wasn't hot.

Her anger had cooled into an icy, almost calm fury. She absolutely still wanted vengeance for the wrongs Xiao Li had committed, for the bitch's insults to the people she cared most about in this entire world. But it wasn't some all-consuming rage or need for revenge.

It just was. She would kill Xiao Li and then move on with her life. Yu Wu wasn't even angry at her mother for allowing Xiao Li's actions anymore. She realized that blaming Yu Long for Xiao Li's behavior was unproductive, especially with how much of a mess her mother seemed to be after Yu Wu's birth.

In that same line of thinking, while she could and did blame Yu Long for her actions and behavior, it was unproductive to linger on her complicated feelings for her mother for too long. Yu Wu thought what Yu Long did was wrong and cowardly, but she didn't hate her. Her mother would have a lot to make up for when or if she beat her Heart Demon, but hopefully, they could eventually have a positive relationship. They would never have a traditional mother-daughter relationship, but it would still be family.

Xiao Li twitched and Yu Wu's concentration sharpened to a razor's edge. Yu Wu's perception of time slowed. She watched as Xiao Li kicked off the stone courtyard in slow motion. The Wood Qi leaves around Xiao Li abruptly turned and flew at Yu Wu ahead of Xiao Li's charge.

Yu Wu let out a composed exhale, ignoring the parasol-spear Xiao Li was once again extending at her in favor of focusing on the scores of razor-sharp Qi leaves. Not even a blur was seen as Yu Wu's sword moved. A melodic whistling accompanied almost a dozen unseen sword swipes.

Yu Wu's Sword Qi dissolved the leaves before they could get halfway to Yu Wu. She casually stepped out of the way of Xiao Li's charge, once again pushing her spiked parasol out of the way with her finger. Xiao Li instantly whirled around, lashing out at Yu Wu with her war fan.

There was a clang as Yu Wu's sword swept the bladed fan away. Xiao Li snarled, stomping her feet to stop her momentum and leaving twin footprints embedded in the stone. She leaped back at Yu Wu. A pair of long vines began to grow out of the cracks in the stone Xiao Li's feet had left.

The vines split, multiplied, and grew as Yu Wu stepped on top of Xiao Li's next spear thrust instead of dodging or deflecting it. She balanced atop the parasol for a moment until the vines behind Xiao Li shot toward her. Unfazed, Yu Wu stepped off the spear and began walking along the vines that were trying to ensnare her as simply as she would walk across level ground.

"You… will… die!" Xiao Li growled, taking advantage of the moment of respite to send more Qi leaves at Yu Wu.

"Maybe…" Yu Wu shrugged. "But you will not be the one that kills me."

Xiao Li pulled on the sect-wide array even more. Streams of stolen power flowed into her core from her fellow sect members. She didn't pay any thought to how close some of them were to death. In the background, Onari and Scarlet were working overtime, trying to keep the sect's inner disciples alive.

Yu Wu's eyes narrowed as she realized what was happening. She may not have cared about the sect, but this much collateral damage didn't sit right with her. For the first time in the fight, Yu Wu's sword swung with the intention of doing harm.

In an instant, the vines beneath Yu Wu's feet were sliced to ribbons. Excess Sword Qi raced toward Xiao Li cutting gashes and slits in her flesh and clothing. Xiao Li gasped at the sudden pain. A cloud of blood escaped her throat.

Yu Wu's foot came down in an axe-kick on Xiao Li's head, smashing her face into the stone floor. Yu Wu flared her Qi into the downed woman's body as Xiao Li struggled against Yu Wu's foot. Xiao Li's connection to the array flickered and fluttered under Yu Wu's Qi assault, disrupting the formation and allowing some life force to flow back into the sect's disciples.

Xiao Li let out a choking gasp as some of her falsely gained power left her. She rolled to the side, somehow managing to wiggle herself free of Yu Wu's foot.

Yu Wu glared down at Xiao Li, "I did not think my opinion of you could get any lower, but your disregard for the lives of your fellow sect members has done the impossible."

"You know nothing!" Xiao Li spat. "I am their only hope for protection until the mistress returns! This sect would be lost without me! Someone like you who turns her back on family would never understand everything I do for the mistress!"

Yu Wu quirked an eyebrow, "I wish my mother could see you like this. It is a shame she is incapacitated at the moment. I feel like she'd disagree with your words… And I hope she would put you in your place."

"What have you done with the mistress?! Your own mother?!" Xiao Li demanded, wobbling to her feet.

"Chill, bitch. She's fine, just battling a Heart Demon that she brought unto herself."

"Lies!!!" Xiao Li screamed, pulling on the array once more and gathering more Wood Qi around her body.

Yu Wu sighed. She knew there would be no convincing Xiao Li that she and Onari weren't in the wrong here. Xiao Li was so lost in her arrogance that she was barely better than a slighted billionaire at this point. The only ethical thing to do was to put her down.

Qi burst from Xiao Li's body in a shower of leaves. She roared, continuing to pull on the array to maintain her explosion of Qi. Yu Wu stepped into the Qi storm instead of stepping away. A wedge of sword intent formed in front of her, splitting the manifested wind and leaves.

Every step Yu Wu took forward caused Xiao Li to roar and strain herself and the array even harder. The array was pushed to its limits as Xiao Li strived to overcome an unsurpassable gap in power. The only reason the sect members in the immediate area still drew breath was Onari's constant use of Senjutsu to heal them.

Yu Wu's blade gracefully slashed whole swaths of Qi leaves. Her Sword Qi parted the storm like the Red Sea. Everything Xiao Li tried was met with a beautifully elegant stab or swing of Yu Wu's sword. Yu Wu made it look like she wasn't even trying to cut through the Qi storm.

"I will not be defeated by an unfaithful daughter!" Xiao Li yelled.

"I respect that even in your manic state, you still love my mother. I wish I could say the same…" Yu Wu said.

"I- Gah!" Xiao Li started to say something, but she was interrupted by a stab of Sword Qi into her center.

Through her sword, Yu Wu could feel the Qi within Xiao Li's cultivation core start to disperse back through the connection to the sect array. She felt the core whither around the tip of her sword. Xiao Li almost immediately weakened and started to completely collapse, only being held up by the blade that was impaling her.

Blood trickled out from between Xiao Li's lips. Yu Wu stared coldly down at Xiao Li's dying form. She had no sympathy for her opponent. Xiao Li had brought all of this upon herself through her arrogance and her callous disregard for the lives of her peers in the sect.

Yu Wu wanted to believe her mother would agree with her, but she honestly didn't know. She still barely knew anything about her mother. One more reason to put her out of mind until she could do something about her ignorance, Yu Wu decided.

Yu Wu closed her eyes and sighed as Xiao Li drew her last breath. This had been a day of closure and dissatisfaction. She could put her anger at Xiao Li to rest, but she couldn't do anything other than wait for her mother. Who knows how long it would take for Yu Long to defeat her Heart Demon and come to her senses.

Still, Yu Wu pushed those thoughts aside. Even if she never spoke to her biological mother again, she had a family. Kunou, Yasaka, Onari and all their friends. She was happy with the life she currently lived. It wasn't perfect, but nothing ever was. Not even the heavens…