Feiyin had spent the st few days adjusting to the profound ges brought by his adva into the Meridian Opening Realm. His senses were sharper, his body felt lighter yet more powerful, and the flow of energy within him had bee something more refined, more plete. He could feel the meridian in his foot humming faintly with the essence of the world, a foundation upon which he would tio build.

  The uhat had lingered in his heart before had slowly faded as he focused on his training, believing it might have been nothing more than paranoia. The vilge had been peaceful sihe st attack, and everyone had strengtheheir defenses, maintaining a stant state of vigince.

  But reality was not so kind.

  It came without warning.

  A pierg whistle cut through the air, followed by a chorus of shouts and the g of ons. The sky above Pine Vilge was illuminated by the eerie glow of fmes igniting in the distance.

  The vilge was utack.

  Feiyin’s body tensed as he shot up from his seat he training grounds, his heart smming against his ribs. His first instinct was to reach for his saber, his fingers closing around the hilt as he rushed outside.

  This time, however, the se was different.

  The militia was ready.

  Uhe previous attack, where they had been caught off guard, this time they had prepared. Barricades had bee up, defensive lines had been drawn, and the men were already armed and engaged in battle. Sun Ke and the others were leading squads to hold the outskirts, keeping the enemy from advang deeper into the vilge.

  But Feiyin’s blood ran cold when he saw them.

  Standing amidst the sea of bck-cloaked invaders, three figures in white robes observed the battlefield with an eerie sense of detat. Two men and one woman.

  They were different.

  Their robes, pristine white like the first white-robed man from the previous attack, billowed lightly despite the ck of wind. Their presence alone made the battlefield feel heavier, their gazes radiating an unseen pressure.

  They were all in the Qi densation Realm—

  And they were as strong as the st one.

  Before Feiyin could even prehend the full weight of what was happening, two figures blurred past him.

  His parents.

  Mei Liao and Cai Feng had already sprung into a, their bodies flickering with terrifying speed as they shot toward the white-robed figures.

  Their movements were too fast for normal eyes to follow, but to Feiyin, whose senses had sharpened even further, he saw the way their irength surged, their bodies moving with a terrifying mixture of fluidity and precision.

  His father’s bde gleamed uhe moonlight as he swung it toward one of the men, his every motion a maion of firmness and explosivity. His mother, by trast, moved like a whisper in the wind, her attacks flowing like water, elusive and uable.

  The three white-robed cultivators smirked.

  And the battle erupted.

  The first csh of o shockwaves rippling through the battlefield, shaking the air itself.

  Cai Feng’s long, curved bde met the spear of one of the men, their irength colliding with such force that the grouh them cracked. His oppo’s on trembled uhe sheer density of Cai Feng’s force, but the man merely griwisting his bde with unnatural flexibility, redireg the impact to lessen the blow.

  At the same time, Mei Liao faced the other two enemies, weaving through the attacks with astonishing grace. The woman in white, wielding a thied bde, shed out with a strike that seemed almost invisible, the tip of her on vibrating at a frequency that made the very air hum.

  Mei Liao dodged by a hair’s breadth, her body moving in tandem with the osciltions, her footwork so delicate that it seemed as if she were floating. With a flick of her wrist, a needle-thin bde slid from her sleeve, and she tered with a movement so fast that the air shriekingly split apart.

  The sed white-robed man, a tall figure with an unreadable expression, wielded a long halberd. He swung it in a wide ard a wave of Essence Qi followed in its wake, tearing through the ground like an invisible force.

  They weren’t holding back.

  Mei Liao twisted her body mid-air, her own Essence Qi surging to meet the attack, softening the impact just enough to let her escape the full brunt of the strike. But even then, she was forced back several steps, her expression darkening.

  Cai Feng, notig the situation, clicked his tongue.

  “Two against one?” he sneered. “Aren’t you all supposed to be proud cultivators? Or does your so-called ‘sect’ only know how to gang up on people?”

  The white-robed woman ughed softly, her eyes gleaming with amusement.

  “You talk too much,” she murmured, her voice like silk.

  And then she disappeared.

  A blur. A fsh of silver.

  Cai Feng barely had time to turn before she on him, her bde aimed for his neck.

  But he was already moving.

  With a siep, he redirected his weight, twisting his torso just enough to avoid the killing strike while bringing his saber down in a brutal downward arc.

  The woman, anticipating it, bent backward mid-air, her flexibility defying human limitations as the tip of Cai Feng’s bde passed mere inches above her chest.

  Before she could fully recover, Mei Liao’s figure fshed ience beside her, a streak of violet light arg toward her side.

  The woman barely mao block, her own oing Mei Liao’s with a sharp g, but her bance had been promised.

  Cai Feng and Mei Liao pressed the advantage.

  Together, their attacks wove into each other like a perfectly coordinated dance, eaent synized, each motion plementing the other. The sheer iy of their bined assault forced the two white-robed enemies backward, momentarily putting them on the defensive.

  The third white-robed man, who had been fighting Cai Feng, narrowed his eyes and finally unleashed his full strength.

  A pulse of Essence Qi burst outward from his body, his on humming with power.

  He wasn’t pying anymore.

  Aher was Cai Feng.

  Feiyin, watg from the distance, could barely tain his emotions. His parents were fighting against three powerful enemies, and though they were holding their own, he khat if this dragged on, things could g.

  He wao help.

  But his father’s words echoed in his mind.

  "A drawn bde is a known one, and a sheathed one is an unknown. If you must fight, make sure it’s worth it."

  Feiyin tightened his grip on his saber, but he didn’t move.

  Not yet.

  Instead, he focused otlefield around him.

  The militia, despite their preparations, were struggling against the sheer numbers of the bck-cloaked enemies. Bdes cshed, blood sprayed, and the st of burning wood filled the air.

  Feiyin’s heartbeat pounded in his ears.

  Feiyin stood at the edge of the battlefield, his heart hammering as he absorbed the se unfolding before him. The battle was chaos—a maelstrom of steel, blood, and g wills. The militia fought with all they had, but the sheer number of bck-cloaked invaders pressed them hard, and the three white-robed figures were an overwhelming presence.

  His parents had ehem, their figures flickering across the battlefield like phantoms.

  The three enemies, all iernal Flow Phase of Qi densation, were unleashing their strength freely, their ons wreathed in visible essenfused auras, sending deadly arcs of force slig through the air.

  Feiyin’s father, Cai Feng, moved like a storm. His saber roared as he cut through the air, each strike backed by overwhelming force. Against him stood a tall, broad-shouldered man wielding a halberd, his essence qi swirling as he met each strike head-on. Their ons cshed in a thunderous impact, sending ripples through the battlefield, f weaker batants to stagger away from the shockwaves.

  Mei Liao, his mother, was a stark trast. She weaved fluidly between attacks, her movements precise and elusive. Her twin daggers shimmered as she struck at the white-robed woman, whose thied bde vibrated unnaturally, sending pierg waves through the air whenever she swung it.

  The st enemy, a man with a spear, hung back, analyzing the battle, waiting for the right moment to strike.

  Feiyin’s breath came fast. This was nothing like the spars he had with his father, nor even the deadly militia training. This was war.

  A war that had reached his home.

  His osciltions surged instinctively, his senses drowning in the endless frequencies of battle—the harsh csh of bdes, the heavy tremor of footfalls, the erratic rhythms of fear, pain, and desperation.

  Yet, amidst it all, he focused on his father.

  Cai Feng’s movements were razor-sharp, his strikes executed with terrifying precision. His bde was aension of his i, each ssh not just a movement but an expression of absolute lethality.

  But his oppo was no amateur. The halberd-wielding man wasn’t just blog, he was redireg.

  Each time Cai Feng’s saber sliced downward, the man used his polearm’s length to twist the impact away, dispersing the force across a wider surface to lessen the direct collision.

  Feiyin’s eyes narrowed.

  That’s not just raw power—that’s calcuted teique.

  The white-robed enemies were using their External Flow Phase mastery to guide and enhaheir attacks, extending their read power beyond what should be possible at their level.

  They weren’t just strong.

  They were disciplined.

  His mother’s fight was no less intense. Mei Liao’s movements were like a shadow in the night, yet no matter how elusive she was, the white-robed woman erfect ter.

  A battle of extremes.

  Mei Liao’s softness, her ability to redired absorb force, was bei by an oppo whose bde vibrated with high-frequency osciltions, tearing through the air with impossible sharpness.

  Each dodge, eaent Mei Liao made, was tered by a precise sweep of the woman’s bde, creating a deadly zone of sshes that made approag dangerous.

  For the first time, Feiyin realized—

  His parents were at a disadvantage.

  A chill ran down his spine.

  This wasn’t just a battle. It was a test. A deliberate probing of their strength.

  These people weren’t just here to sughter.

  They were assessing the vilge.

  Feiyin tightened his grip on his saber.

  He had to act.