Chapter 110: The sky rift trial
Lightning beasts roared.
The ground — if it could even be called that — shuddered beneath the weight of energy.
Each creature was a walking storm: four-legged, sharp like broken glass, and pulsing with electric light.
Li Ming shot forward first, blade flashing blue. "Lan Yue, left! Xue Yan, right! Bai Guo, stop panicking!"
"I’M NOT PANICKING!" Bai Guo yelled — while simultaneously spinning in the air like a feathered comet.
One of the beasts leapt at him, snapping with a jaw of lightning. Bai Guo shrieked, dodged, and smacked it on the head with his wing.
To everyone’s shock, the beast exploded into sparks.
Lan Yue blinked mid-swing. "Did... he just kill that thing with a wing slap?"
Bai Guo stared at the dispersing smoke. "...I’m a genius."
"Or lucky," Xue Yan muttered, dashing through another beast’s attack. She twisted, palm glowing with fire-infused Qi, and sent it flying with a kick that would’ve broken a mountain.
"See? That’s how you actually fight!"
"Noted!" Bai Guo said, dodging another beast — then accidentally punching a third one right in the face. It exploded too.
Li Ming shouted, "Okay, you know what? Don’t change anything. Just... keep doing whatever that is!"
---
A blast of raw lightning surged from the largest beast, ripping through the air.
Lan Yue deflected it with a clean, precise slash — her sword sang like thunder. "Focus! They’re drawing Qi from the storm itself!"
Li Ming’s eyes narrowed. "Then we cut the source."
He leapt into the air, lightning wrapping around his arm. With one swing, he released a slash that ripped through the sky — a crackling arc that split the dark clouds.
Dozens of beasts vanished in a flash of blue.
"Show-off," Xue Yan said, grinning as she landed beside him. "You could’ve saved some for me."
He smirked. "You’re welcome."
She punched him on the shoulder. "That wasn’t a thank-you."
"Could’ve fooled me."
---
Behind them, Bai Guo landed triumphantly on a floating rock, chest puffed out.
"Behold! The legendary Winged General of Azure Sky—AAAHH!"
A beast jumped up from below and bit his sleeve.
Lan Yue sighed. "General, was it?"
Bai Guo flailed until Li Ming zapped the beast away with a tiny bolt. "Descendant, I had it under control!"
"Sure you did."
---
The storm above grew darker, rumbling with intent.
Lightning poured down, shaping into a massive form — a towering beast of pure energy, eyes glowing white-hot.
Yun Rou’s breath caught. "That one’s... huge."
"It’s the guardian," Lan Yue said quietly. "If we defeat it, the Heart of the Rift will open."
Xue Yan grinned, cracking her knuckles. "Finally. A worthy punching bag."
Bai Guo stared at her. "You need therapy."
"And you need aim."
"Point taken."
---
The guardian roared, sending shockwaves through the entire realm.
Li Ming stepped forward, lightning dancing across his skin, his Qi burning brighter than ever.
"Everyone—form up!"
Lan Yue raised her sword. Xue Yan’s aura ignited in flames. Yun Rou’s vines pulsed with emerald light. Bai Guo... stood behind them, muttering prayers.
Li Ming smiled faintly.
"This time, we don’t run. We shine."
The guardian lunged.
The group charged.
Lightning and Qi collided in a blinding explosion —
and the Sky Rift itself trembled from the impact.
---
The lightning guardian’s roar split the clouds.
Thunder cascaded down like rain, every strike birthing smaller beasts that crawled out of the storm’s veins.
Li Ming felt the crackling hum of power in the air, his dantian stabilizing against the pressure. "Alright—Lan Yue, keep the big one’s attention. Xue Yan, intercept the spawns. Yun Rou, defensive support. Bai Guo... try not to die."
Bai Guo puffed his feathers. "A flawless strategy." Then a spark grazed him and he immediately added, "Tactical retreat!"
"Stay put!" Li Ming barked, barely catching his robe before Bai Guo vanished entirely.
---
The guardian struck first. Its arm, made of woven lightning, smashed down. Lan Yue met it head-on; her sword blazed, cutting a perfect line through the bolt. The impact split the floating stone they stood on into two.
"Remind me," Bai Guo yelled over the noise, "why are we fighting inside a storm instead of under one!?"
"Because the treasure’s here," Li Ming shouted back, channeling Qi into his blade.
"Oh yes, wonderful, fight physics itself for loot!"
Lan Yue’s tone was icy calm. "Less talking. More slashing."
---
Below them, Xue Yan darted through smaller beasts, her movements fluid and vicious. Every kick, every palm burst with fiery arcs that vaporized the creatures before they could even screech.
One tried to flank her—she grabbed it by the horn, spun, and hurled it into another. The explosion of light briefly illuminated her grin.
"Two for one. Efficient."
Yun Rou, floating nearby on a lotus of green energy, muttered something under her breath. The vines wrapped around her arms pulsed, forming a protective dome that absorbed stray lightning. "Try to keep the field from collapsing!"
"Working on it!" Li Ming called.
---
He leapt toward the guardian’s chest. The sheer density of Qi made his vision blur, but he gathered his lightning into a single thrust.
The beast’s core gleamed like a mirror—pulsing, unstable.
"Lan Yue!" he shouted.
She understood instantly. Her sword flashed upward, cleaving a path of light that cut through the air.
Li Ming followed that trajectory, his lightning latching onto her sword-aura like a current through metal.
Their attacks merged—
a radiant strike of sword and storm—
and slammed into the guardian’s chest.
The air twisted. The beast staggered.
Xue Yan jumped in, flames swirling around her leg, and delivered a brutal spinning kick that shattered the guardian’s shoulder.
It howled, releasing a shockwave so strong that Bai Guo’s feathers blew backward and he slammed against a rock with a thunk.
"Still alive!" he wheezed.
"Barely," Yun Rou muttered, vines tightening as she redirected Qi barriers around everyone.
---
Li Ming steadied himself, panting, his hands trembling with power. "It’s weakening! Focus your Qi on the core!"
Lan Yue nodded. "Together."
The four of them—Li Ming, Lan Yue, Xue Yan, and Yun Rou—formed a circle around the guardian’s chest.
Lightning, sword-light, flame, and nature Qi interwove like threads of a tapestry, converging into one devastating point.
Bai Guo blinked at the glowing pattern forming mid-air. "Uh... you’re not supposed to mix those elements, right?"
"Too late!" Li Ming shouted.
The combined strike detonated.
A pillar of multicolored energy erupted through the storm clouds, splitting the Rift sky open.
When the light cleared, the guardian was gone—
only a faint, humming crystal remained, floating gently in the air.
They stood there in silence, every hair on their bodies standing upright.
Finally, Bai Guo coughed. "Well... that went smoother than usual."
Li Ming glanced at him, smirk tugging at his lips. "You mean no one died and nothing blew up?"
"Exactly."
Lan Yue sheathed her sword. "Then maybe our luck’s improving."
Xue Yan looked around at the crackling remnants of the Rift. "Or this place just ran out of things to throw at us."
Yun Rou sighed, stepping toward the glowing crystal. "Either way... the Heart of the Rift belongs to us."
---
Above them, the dark clouds slowly began to clear, revealing a glimpse of blue sky for the first time in centuries.
And though none of them said it out loud, they all felt it—
the Sky Rift’s madness had only just begun.
To be continued...