The Judging of Sword and Fist

Yuenu's sword was now bathed in hazy white energy, dripping from the tip. She glanced at the blue lights that had appeared, but disregarded them and continued to pour more and more power into her sword.

Gouki was also slowly gathering energy for a big move, awaiting the moment that Yuenu attacked to execute it.

Then, it came.

"Sword Severs Arm!" Yuenu's body merely twitched, yet she was already a few short feet away from Gouki.

"Tch!" Seeing this, Gouki completed the gathering of energy and performed his move, moving in a similar fashion to his regular teleporting, but thrusting his hand forward at the last second. His hands met her sword, grabbing it while his body twisted away from it.

In a shocking turn of events, the two were pulled beyond a veil of space, vanishing from sight. In their place were sparking flashes of light, similar to when steel struck flint. Loud metallic clashing and clanging echoed throughout the plaza, driving the nail of anxiety deep into the minds of the invested audience.

They were silent, letting the magical scene before them make all the noise.

With a final fierce spark, Gouki and Yuenu reappeared. Yuenu was off to the side, her white robes torn, her complexion pale and her breathing unsteady. Gouki was standing with his back facing the majority of the crowd, showing off the glowing, red kanji on his back.

"You have won my praise, Sword Maiden Yuenu. A true fighter can stare death in the face and still attack with intent to kill; you are a true fighter."

He then turned around, now facing Logean Wuji and the others who were sitting in the air above. A soft wind blew, bringing with it bizarre whispers. Gouki could clearly hear the words, like a dao message coming from the world itself, intended for him.

'It is not over yet.'

When Gouki turned around, Yuenu's pitiful personage faded from view. Specks of snowy white dust gathered in the air as a whirlwind formed, driving away the malicious aura of Gouki's qi. Without much time, Gouki stomped into his stance and let his aura erupt, protecting him from the presence of that whirlwind.

Before he could properly assess the situation, the specks of white dust were scattered, each speck assimilated in misty white air. Gouki's eyes narrowed, the people subconsciously gulped and Logean Wuji smiled brightly.

"Ten Swords, Snare the White Ape!"

From the mist, ten body doubles of Yuenu arose with blades held overhead, at the ready. As the sword were brandished, separate whirlwinds were breathed to life, propelling each body double into the air and flying toward Gouki in the blink of an eye.

Gouki growled, rotating his body and his arms along with, extending and raising his left leg. As he spun around, he used his right leg to push himself into the air where the ten sword were set to meet, hazy red aura lingering on his foot and leg.

His clothes fluttered as he spun in the air, generating a tornado on its own as the speed swiftly increased before the audience's stunned eyes.

"He can even do this? Just who is this 'Gouki' person?"

"He's like a monster! Just look at those eyes!"

"Eyes? What about his teeth!? With gnashers like those, I'm sure he could bite into one of those swords!"

The man-made tornado of red and blue energy spun rapidly with Gouki at the center. Each body double arrived, stabbing with their swords yet unable to pierce anything. On the contrary, their blades were savagely kicked away and out of their hands, turning back into specks of white then disappearing forever.

Following a loud sound like a sword cutting through paper, Yuenu reappeared in the space she had been previously, her left hand trembling. Her viscous blood ran down the blade and dripped onto the ground; the skin between her thumb and forefinger had been torn apart. Slowly, her sword hand descended until the blade was pressed into the floor.

She could no longer hold up her sword.

The rest of the Celestial Sword Maidens got up and rushed to her side, but she was quick to refuse their aid.

By now, Gouki was standing with his hands clasped before him, centering himself and calming his energy. His students were ecstatic at this point, but they kept their reactions down to mere smiles and soft chuckles. He could clearly see, however, that their eyes were bright and beaming.

He nodded to them, knowing they were proud of him, but also feeling his own sense of pride. He had paved a new way forward for his Dao and his dao-heart. The Dao of Murderous Intent made those aligned with it full of violent energy and tenacious will. They were machines of slaughter- in a sense, bred for battle and needing nothing more from life.

It was virtually impossible for them to love anything more than fighting, furthering their comprehensions of the murderous dao and becoming stronger and stronger because of it.

When Gouki walked over to Yuenu, he did not ridicule, mock or talk down to her. He nodded, cupped his fists in a salute and said, "As true fighters, we must defeat our shadows, our demons- our weaknesses- or we will be condemned by them."

"I have fought against you, and can feel the might of your sword and spirit. Do not allow the spark within you to die. Instead, fuel it with the violence of future battles and the blood of your true enemies."

Yuenu scoffed, smiling wryly as she failed, yet again, at standing up. "A broken spirit is nearly irreparable, Master Gouki. I fear I am not as capable as you think."

"Mm! Nonsense!"

Along with Yuenu, the other Celestial Maidens were shocked by Gouki's strong response to her words. "I have dwelled in darkness and have conquered it, Sword Maiden. My soul resonates with only the truest of fighters, for in them it can sense the potential of untested mettle."

"In doubting, Sword Maiden, you hold yourself back! I have always lived in darkness, suffering endless defeat at the hands of my own soul. A true fighter is not made through endless victory, but endless perseverance!"

Gouki's words did not only resonate with the Sword Maidens and his students, but the entire crowd.

In the distance, Bi Xue and Yan Longxi had just arrived to hear his words. Bi Xue was solemn for a moment, but she soon regained her focus and made her way forward. Yan Longxi, whose divine will was able to stretch considerably far, honed in on Gouki's words and felt them connect with his own dao-heart.

It was a natural and inevitable reaction, caused only in the event of perfect dao-unison. Yan Longxi was taken aback, halting his steps for a short moment as he said, "This person speaks of a true dao that resonates deeply within me."

Gouki extended his rough hand for Yuenu to take, uncaring of her physical state. In his eyes, she had the power to get up as soon as she wanted. She just needed to will it.

"Sword Maiden, take my hand. Master your darkness and do not allow it to master you! Stand and walk, walk and fight!" Yuenu's eyes sparkled with enlightenment. Even among the audience, quite a few people were moved to tears and sniffles.

Without any hesitation, she took his hand and pulled herself up, ignoring the pains of her vital-energy-deprived and battered body.

She stood tall and proud before Gouki, her black hairs parting and allowing him to stare directly into her coral-colored eyes.

"Never stop until the day you gain the greatest victory of all: Victory over the self!"

The Sword Maidens at her side, Yuenu took a breath and raised her head to return Gouki's gaze- since he was much taller than her. "Be ready, Master Gouki. In the future, I will return to fight you!"

This time, raucous laughter erupted from Gouki and he slammed down on her shoulder, almost causing her to topple onto the ground yet again. "Hahaha! I am always ready for a fight!"

Yuenu was finally able to return Gouki's bow, thus putting a formal end to the match. Standing in the space between the crowd and the stage, the village elders nodding approvingly.

"This one called Gouki, he reminds me of someone a friend of mine once spoke up. The bright red hair, the word 'heaven' on his back..."

"I had a similar feeling, Old Man Sun. I believe he bears a shocking resemblance to the descriptions left behind by Senior Pangu. I remember one of them spoke of a being with the potential to become one with a Great Dao, the Mad Ogre known only by the name, 'Oni.' Could that have been a prophecy about this man, Gouki?" Father Tang stroked his chin, lost in thought after saying this.

Mother Guan smiled and shook her head. "If it is, or if it is not, so what? All he needs to do is live his life. Besides, Sir Wuji seems to have shown an interest in him. I believe we only need wait and see what will become of him."

All-smiles, Yuenu and the Celestial Sword Maidens were about to leave the stage when Logean Wuji made himself visible in the center of the stage. He was also smiling brightly, extremely happy with the words he had just heard.

"Gouki and the Student-Daoists of the Murder Dao. Celestial Sword Maidens. A great path has now opened before you; feel your dao-hearts burn and sizzle within you."

"Young Master, I-" Yuenu started to speak.

"Please, call me Sir Wuji."

"Ah? Right then, Sir Wuji. I am truly grateful for the opportunity, even if I was not able to impress you." She bowed as deeply as she could without assistance, smiling thinly and humbly.

Gouki also bowed his head slightly, but his expression was odd.

"You have indeed impressed me. Though, I admit, Gouki had plenty to do with it, you were able to break your mental shackles in record time. With a dao-heart like yours, cultivation becomes less of a task. I hope you can take a page from Gouki and always remain true to your dao and your sword. If you can do that, very soon the two shall become one and the same."

Yuenu bowed again, expressing her thanks before leaving with the other Sword Maidens. The people cleared a path for them as they made their way out and Logean Wuji watched them leave. He knew, in his mind, what he would do with them in the near future.

Nevertheless, that was for the future. For now, there was something else he needed to do...

"Now then. Gouki!"

"Umu!" Gouki stepped forward, hands at his side.

"Your potential is extraordinary and your comprehensions are deep and vast. Like the King-Boy and the Whirlwind Monkey before you, I shall bring you all to my mountain once the talent show has ended. Do not stray far from the village."

Finished speaking, Logean Wuji returned to his place at the table, a steaming cup of tea in hand.

Gouki was flabbergasted by the air around Logean Wuji, so he remained in a daze for a short while before taking a knee and bowing in Logean Wuji's direction.

"Osu!"

Directly after, he took his students and left the stage. Afar off, Yuenu looked on with a cheeky smirk. She promised herself, in that moment, that she would stop at nothing to face her weakness. She would live according to the will of her soul and her sword, allowing herself to sharpen the blade of her will.

"Lady Yuenu," one of the Sword Maidens stepped forward, "where shall we go now? Back to the Empire? The Southern Forest, perhaps?"

Yuenu shook her head, looking up at the sky then closing her eyes and inhaling the pure energy in the air. Holding her sheathed sword in hand, she raised it heavenward and said, "I do not know. My sword shall lead me."

To the Sword Maidens' dismay, Yuenu's following words were spoken clearly and determinedly.

"I shall no longer lead the Celestial Sword Maidens. You five must follow your own hearts and find your own dao. Do not wet yourself with another's karma. From now one, I am Yue Nu of nowhere, a sword cultivator in search of herself."

She left after that, walking toward a place no one, not even she herself, knew. The Sword Maidens stared at her retreating figure and could muster up no words. Soon enough, they split up and departed as well. It was unknown, at this time, what exactly was in their hearts.