Walking over an abandoned pillar in the north-west of the cauldron, Jun Li looked up to the claw that loomed above, embedded into and cupping the edge of the cauldron.

  This close, Jun Li could sense the deterrent that drove away the beasts of the Grave, and her face contorted in distaste. Wrapped around her, Little Yun tensed like an iron rope, so stricken with discomfort that they had unwittingly begun to restrain Jun Li's movements.

  Jun Li herself was overwhelmed with her own emotion. A familiar sense of learned antipathy drew Jun Li's mind towards a rapid understanding of just what this 'deterrent' was. 'It's the same as that Immortal… Just less focused, spilling out in all directions…'

  What Jun Li felt was a lingering 'intent,' a trace of a higher being's will that had endured for millennia after death. Unlike the intent Jun Li had felt from the presence of the Immortal within her, however, the lingering intent within the Earth Dragon's claw was directionless, having degraded without a living will to refine and conduct it.

  Oddly, this raised Jun Li's opinion of the Earth Dragon's Grave. It seemed like a vague and obscure existence to her, even having seen the bones. But knowing that this being held something in common with 'that Immortal' somehow made it seem more real.

  Looking back, Jun Li saw the corpses of the Magical Beasts that lacked the sense to let her pass their pillars unharmed. 'There's no way this sort of being would leave behind such a lukewarm Secret Realm when it died…'

  Stepping off the last pillar, Jun Li reached the edge of the cauldron, under the porous shadow of the Earth Dragon's claw. This close, Little Yun tightened around Jun Li's body, their coils threatening to tear into Jun Li's flesh.

  "Calm down…" At Jun Li's words, Little Yun slowly relented, their coils loosening around Jun Li. Whatever influence the lingering intent of the Earth Dragon had over Little Yun, it couldn't match up to the source of Little Yun's kinship.

  Feeling her own influence over Little Yun in such a starkly obvious way, Jun Li felt even more certain that Little Yun was following that Immortal, not her.

  Something about that made her feel a bit more lonely.

  'Well… that's just fine.'

  Stepping further into the cove that was carved out by the Earth Dragon's claw, Jun Li felt its intent more clearly and slowly followed it back to one of the long digits that dug into the earth.

  There, surrounding the pure grey length of bone, a hazy aura could be seen, inviting Jun Li to investigate further.

  Reaching her hand out towards the rounded surface of the pillar-like claw, Jun Li felt a moment of resistance before her hand suddenly ruptured, blood spraying to her left and right as a massive laceration parted the center of her palm.

  Hissing in pain, Jun Li drew back her hand and quickly saw how deeply she had been cut. From the nook where her thumb would rest when holding her hand in a palm to the very opposite edge, a deep cut opened her flesh to the point she could see the bone beneath. "Damn it…!"

  "Even if it looks smooth and flat, it's still the claw of a dragon… If you touch it, you'll get cut." As she mused a warning to herself, Jun Li took her time pulling out and assembling a pill, needle, thread, and length of gauze, as if she wasn't concerned with the blood that poured from her hand and formed a small stream over the orange stone.

  Just as Jun Li began to stitch her hand back together, the explosive sound of stone cracking under a great impact rang out from behind her. "...I didn't expect you to go here, I hear not many people can stomach being this close to the claw!"

  Turning around, Jun Li immediately confirmed the suspicion that manifested the moment she heard that voice. "...Guan Heng."

  At that acknowledgment, Guan Heng raised a brow. "Oh? So you know me, but you don't exactly look like a disciple of one of our Sects."

  Having a decent read on Guan Heng's character, Jun Li continued to patch up her hand as she spoke. "Right, I only learned who you were two days ago, back at the encampment."

  At that bizarrely transparent statement, Guan Heng could only smile. "The encampment, huh? I was wondering if there was another entrance to the Grave, but I suppose that's unnecessary if you've got the guts to walk in like you belong there."

  Jun Li was silent, quietly appreciating that Guan Heng's logic pulled him away from the theory of multiple entrances.

  "You must be… the alchemist?" Guan Heng eventually landed on a satisfying conclusion, picking out the single most 'unknown factor' among the dozen disciples.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  "Right… Are you done playing detective?" Jun Li finished binding her hand tightly and stood up straight, looking towards Guan Heng, who looked down on her with interest.

  "You seem pretty honest, tell me… what's your goal here?" As Guan Heng spoke, both Cultivators began to walk, slowly retreating out from the shadow of the Earth Dragon's claw.

  "The same as yours, I imagine." As Jun Li replied, she gestured for Little Yun to dismount her and remain in the shadow of the claw. "To extract as much benefit as I can from this place."

  "Haha, that's true." Guan Heng, alongside Jun Li, leapt out from the cove formed by the Earth Dragon's claw and onto one of the molten pillars of the cauldron. "Then, it's a matter of rights! I can't exactly let you get away, now that I know you're aiming to steal the rightful resources of our three Sects for yourself."

  "Rights, huh? Do things like that exist in the Jianghu? It certainly sounds different than what I was taught." Hearing Jun Li's words, Guan Heng let out an odd sigh. "So, you're 'that' kind of Cultivator? I don't mind that, it makes communication easier."

  Finally, Guan Heng and Jun Li faced one another, from opposite ends of a wide, molten pillar. "I'll kill you to protect my own benefits, and to take yours." Guan Heng spoke plainly, something Jun Li respected.

  "I'd rather die here than pull out my escape talisman anyway. I can't imagine what those idiot Elders would try and do to me if I come out after all this." Jun Li slid into a practiced stance and drew a straight sword from her Spatial Ring. 'Even with my hand like this… I can win.'

  Witnessing his opponent's calm confidence and sensing the pure and even Killing Intent that seeped out from her, Guan Heng's expression turned serious. 'This… might be more troublesome than I expected.'

  Unlike Jun Li, Guan Heng did not pull any weapon from his Spatial Ring. Instead, he simply raised his hands, slipping into a martial stance.

  Jun Li now believed with certainty that Guan Heng's body was abnormal. For such a well-developed Cultivator to rely on his bare fists in a serious fight, without even wearing any gloves or wrappings, was simply unthinkable.

  Although Guan Heng had the physique of a brute, Jun Li understood well that one's bare hands were the most agile and flexible weapon of all, and she immediately began to use the Glass Cloud Art, a pair of Qi clouds billowing out from under her feet, lifting her up a few inches and causing her feet to gently slide around.

  Without moving a muscle, Jun Li rotated the clouds of Qi beneath her feet with a dexterity that far outmatched herself from five years ago.

  Within a few seconds, Jun Li had begun drifting across the molten pillar in random and unpredictable patterns, sometimes even approaching Guan Heng within her striking distance, but no matter how she carried herself with the Qi beneath her feet, she never adjusted her stance.

  Guan Heng was ready for any move Jun Li could make, from a frontal attack to turning tail and fleeing. 'Striking first in this sort of position would be bad, it'd leave me open to whatever response you've got up your sleeve…' Guan Heng considered his position. '...That's what you're thinking, isn't it?'

  The moment Jun Li came into range again, Guan Heng jolted forward, sending a graceless haymaker towards Jun Li's center of mass.

  The instant he moved, Jun Li slipped forward, sliding past Guan Heng's fist with effortless grace, and pulling her sword down the side of his arm, before it swiftly arced up and across the side of his throat.

  "Good!" Guan Heng's voice clearly echoed out, and before Jun Li could even glance towards where her sword had struck, Guan Heng's other fist slammed into her flank, sending her frictionless feet sliding rapidly to the edge of the pillar.

  Within half a second, Jun Li had gone from having dealt a seemingly lethal blow to having nothing beneath her feet but a sea of flame.

  Her lungs forcefully robbed of air by Guan Hen's strike, Jun Li was unable even to curse to herself, and could only silently gather her bearings. Jun Li's eyes followed her momentum, and, without hesitation, she held her sword out towards the side of the next pillar in her path.

  Her momentum finally stopping, Jun Li felt clearly now that more than one of her ribs had broken. 'What happened? My strike was good…!'

  Feeling a shadow loom over her, Jun Li looked up to the edge of the pillar she was now hanging from. Guan Heng looked down towards her from the edge and quietly offered his hand.

  Neither his arm nor throat had any trace of blood, but Jun Li could see deep grooves had been carved into them, as if it wasn't skin and flesh, but stone all the way down to Guan Heng's bones.

  "That's… a good trick…" Jun Li spoke with difficulty, looking up towards Guan Heng.

  Guan Heng looked to his hands, and to where a groove had been cut down his forearm, mildly defacing his grey skin. "The Granite Tiger Physique, or so I've learned recently. No trick, just a natural talent, though it took a lot of effort to properly manifest."

  Again, Guan Heng held his hand out towards Jun Li. "...You expect me to reach out and let you pull me up? I know if you grab me, I'll die before you let go again."

  "That is likely." Guan Heng spoke. "But, I think that's preferable to the alternative."

  Even without Guan Heng pointing it out, Jun Li could feel the oppressive heat of the fires below, reaching up and over her, as if to weigh her down.

  For a moment, Jun Li hung there silently, her sword embedded in the pillar.

  Suddenly, Guan Heng's hand reached out, as if to grab Jun Li by the wrist and force her up, causing her to wrench her sword down, intentionally snapping it in half.

  As she began to fall, Jun Li threw the broken sword straight up towards Guan Heng's face, forcing him to guard himself and give up on catching her.

  When Jun Li's sword hit the back of his hand, it was deflected harmlessly, letting out a high-pitched ringing as it flew through the air. Quickly looking below, Guan Heng could no longer see Jun Li. "Damn stubborn idiot…" He let out a groan.

  "...At least leave me something for my trouble, this sucks…"