The next hour up the mountain was largely uneventful. A few minutes after they'd wandered from the clearing where the group had fought the boar, they came across another leopard. But they didn't even get a chance to fight the beast before it ran away.

  "We haven't seen anything in a while. You'd think there would be some other sect members who made it up here with us." Toya stated.

  "They're probably taking their time nursing their wounds or fighting beasts, or both," Xai stated. "Speaking of, how are your ribs feeling?" He turned to look at Liang.

  The muscular man shrugged. "Just a bit sore. I thought the first boar I fought had broken a rib. But apart from some pain when I throw a good punch, I'm fine."

  Suddenly, Toya, the one leading the group, stopped. Liang and Xai stopped as well, looking around for any reason for their halt.

  "Do you smell that?" She asked, sniffing the air a few times.

  Liang and Xai looked between each other and shook their heads.

  Toya sniffed the air again before bolting in a direction through the trees.

  Liang and Xai exchanged another glance before taking off after her.

  They ran for a full minute before Toya finally stopped at the edge of a small cliff. Over 30 feet below them sat a clearing surrounded on all but one side by cliffs. From the opening of the clearing, a stream of water coalesced into a pond at the clearing's center. It would have been a rather pleasing sight had it been only that. Scattered among the grass were half a dozen bloody corpses. Each body donned the same blue and white uniform that all members of the Silver Mist sect wore.

  Next to the pond, drinking its water whilst chewing the arm of a corpse, lay a large monkey. Its fur was mostly grey but speckled with dried blood. It was muscular under its fur. A thick tail from the back of its waist was wrapped around the torso of an unconscious woman with blood streaming from her head and an arm. Though whether she has truly passed on, none could tell.

  "Is... that a Jué?" Xai asked.

  "Why would one be here?" Toya asked.

  "A what?" Liang asked.

  The two others looked at Liang.

  "It's a large, intelligent monkey. That generally attacks and eats females. Though it seems this one had less of a preference." Toya explained, looking down at one of the male cultivators who had their chest caved in.

  "So.... should we try to kill it?" Liang asked.

  Toya looked at the Jué and narrowed her eyes. "I can't see it's level from here. On my first assumption, it should be at least as strong as that boar we'd fought."

  "And at most?" Xai looked to Toya, who just shrugged.

  "As strong as someone who's in the first stages of refining Ki.... maybe."

  "I say we fight it," Liang said, drawing the pair of sabers from his back.

  "Not up front at least," Xai stated, looking back at the creature as it chewed on the bloody arm in its hand. "We may be able to surprise it if we are careful."

  "That may work, but we'll need to lure it closer to the cliffside," Toya explained. "I'm the most dexterous out of all of you, and I can't jump that far to make a proper attack. And if we were to descend the cliff first, no obstacles would be blocking us. If we were to attack it down there we'd have to move quickly. And preferably have some sort of escape plan."

  Over the next minute, the group discussed the plan of attack.

  The plan began with Liang leaping from the cliffside as Xai and Toya circled around to the other side. As Liang ran forward the Jué looked up, dropped the arm it was chewing, and let out a roar towards the sect member. The Jué's tail whipped around and flung the body of the woman toward Liang, however, he ducked below it before leaping forward and swinging downward with both his blades.

  The jué held up one of its arms to block the strike. The two heavy blades barely managed to draw blood before the jué raised its other arm and brought it down like a hammer. Laing barely had enough time to dislodge his blades and leap back as the large fist slammed down into the floor. Liang felt the ground shake beneath his feet as he finally looked at the level of the creature before him.

  "Ah... shit," Liang said, readying himself to evade another attack. He really hoped the surprise attack sufficiently caught it off guard.

  On the opposite side of the clearing, Xai and Toya leaped to the bottom of the cliffside and ran towards the Jué.

  Toya spun and wrapped her chain around the beast's tail and began pulling as hard as she could, digging her feet into the grass and keeping herself low to the ground.

  Xai leaped into the air and raised his blade to bring it down on the now-taught appendage. Suddenly, a flash of information appeared in his mind. It was just a flicker, but he just knew something was pulsing around the jué. It was loose, and unorganized, with nowhere to center itself, but it still clung to the beast's form, albeit slightly. Xai's eyes widened as the info rushed into his head. Regardless, he still swung downwards with all his might at the tail.

  The blade stuck mostly through the tail but managed to get caught on a piece of muscle. Nonetheless, Xai stepped backward and slid his blade away and downward, sawing through the muscle and cleaving the tail off.

  The jué roared in pain, nearly deafening the people around it.

  It was at that moment Xai looked up to see the level hanging above the beast's head.

  [Level 61 (F)]

  However, that wasn't the worst part. His brain was still processing the information it had suddenly gained. While he didn't know exactly what the energy was, he had a good guess. He looked into the jué eyes as it turned to face the man who'd removed its tail.

  The jué has Ki.

  "Guys run!" Xai spoke and he began to step back.

  Toya did as she was told immediately, unraveling her chain from the beast's dismembered tail and beginning to back away.

  Liang, on the other hand, decided to swing his blades at the jué's back. The blades plunged into the beast's hide, though not as deep as the man had hoped.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  The jué just growled and reached behind itself, grabbing Liang by the collar of his uniform and throwing him over its shoulder into the pond, leaving the two sabers lodged in its back.

  It then turned its attention to Xai. He stared up at the beast, and the level hanging above its head. Despite the sharp sword in his hands and the increase in his abilities since he'd ascended the mountain his body still shook as the beast approached.

  He tried to steady his breathing, but his vision wouldn't stop looking into the jué's eyes. He felt like he had the first time he fought a leopard for the first time. The first time he'd ever ascended the mountain and accidentally diverged from the path. That was three years ago, on his way to offer himself to the Silver Mist sect as a lesser disciple. He'd grown so much since then, toning his body and growing more comfortable with his blade. But now his mind was blank.

  "Xai, get over here!" Toya shouted.

  Xai risked a glance behind him to see Toya at the cliff's edge pulling Liang up it with her chain.

  The roar of the jué turned Xai's head back to the beast, only to see a large fist coming for him.

  Xai's eyes widened as he held his sword up to block the blow, having no time to move. The fist slammed against the flat of the blade, protecting Xai's body, but the force still sent him hurling backward. He was sent to the other side of the pond, but the jué kept the pressure up by running forward and leaping towards the young sect member.

  Xai dove to the side, dodging the beast as it came down where he'd been standing. He took a breath before stepping forward and thrusting his sword towards the jué's shoulder. The blade only went in an inch before stopping. Xai quickly stepped back as the beast swiped the blade away. He then rolled aside as the beast threw another punch; another shallow cut was made across the beast's arm.

  Back near the cliff, Toya's hand finally hoisted Liang to the edge. "You stay here and catch your breath, I'm going to help Xai. And get your weapon's back."

  Toya leaped from the cliff and spun the chain on her arm. As she landed she shot the chain towards one of the sabers stuck in the jué's back. The chain wrapped around the handle of one of the sabers before Toya pulled the chain and tore the blade from the beast's back. Toya spun the saber at the end of her chain around her as Xai and the jué fought.

  The jué's head turned just in time for a shallow cut to be made across its chest, drawing a thin stream of blood. Xai tried to follow the attack with another slash, but he quickly backed off when the jué reared back a fist.

  Suddenly, Liang's saber- stuck to the end of Toya's chain- arcs downward and implanted itself into the back of the beast's shoulder.

  The jué roared and grabbed the chain before pulling it towards itself. Toya let out a yelp as she was practically flung by the arm towards the beast. The jué turned and grabbed Toya's face as she flew forward before slamming her head-first onto the ground. The ground shook from the force. The jué roared at the now limp body of Toya.

  Xai's eyes widened, but he quickly calmed (as much as he could given the situation) at the sight of Toya's level still hanging above her head. She was still alive.

  "Liang!" Xai shouted, stabbing into the beast's back to make it face him. "Toya is still alive. I'll lead the jué away. Grab her and run!" He said as the jué swung at him. He dodged one blow and blocked another. However, he was sent hurtling backward from the force. Like before, the beast leaped towards Xai. Like before, he rolled away from the descending fists.

  Behind the jué, Liang had descended the cliffside to retrieve Toya.

  'Good, I'm leading it away.' Xai thought. Xai took several more steps back. Letting the jué leap towards him again and swing. Xai stood at the edge of the one side of the clearing not covered by cliffs. He continued leading the beast backward into the trees.

  The beast swung its fist again, this time forcing Xai to block the blow; being flung into a tree in the process. Xai quickly ducked as the beast slammed a fist into the trunk behind him. The Junior followed the attack up by making a small cut on the jué's knee before rolling to the side and backing away further.

  The cycle of backing away, dodging, making an attack during openings, and occasionally blocking an attack, continued for several more minutes. As time passed, Xai felt his breath go heavy. He barely managed to dodge an attack, stumble, and begin to bring his sword up to block. This time, however, he was a fraction of a second too slow, and the blow connected with his chest. Xai heard a faint crack as he was sent sprawling across the ground tens of feet away.

  Xai pulled himself from the ground, clutching his chest and heaving for breath. With every inhale a pulse of pain shot through his body. He took a few more steps back, feeling the sun on his back. Xai glanced behind himself to see a large cliff nearly 30 feet from him, leading down several stories into a wide canopy of trees. Looking back at the beast as it approached, Xai had an idea. An insane idea- but an idea nonetheless- of how to kill the beast.

  Xai began to back towards the cliff's edge. He kept an eye on the jué as it crept forward. As he expected, it rushed towards him with a roar. Xai took another step back to dodge the punch, his foot on the very edge of the cliffside. The jué attacked again. But this time Xai stepped towards and around the beast before stabbing his blade into the beast's back and pushing forward as hard as he could.

  Despite the blade only reaching through an inch of the jué's hide, the sudden burst of pain and force caused the beast to lurch forward a step. Its foot slipped on the edge of the cliffside as it began to fall.

  Xai tried to push off the creature as it began to fall over the cliffside but the beast's long arms grabbed his pant leg. Before Xai knew it he too fell through the air alongside the beast.

  ***

  Toya woke up with the worst headache she'd ever felt. With every beat of her heart, her head throbbed. She tried to reach a hand up to massage her head, but she noticed she couldn't. Then she noticed she couldn't feel the ground beneath her. Then she noticed that she was moving.

  Toya finally opened her eyes. Her vision was blurred at the edges, and the orange light in the sky seemed many times brighter than it should have been. She was met with the back of Liang's bald head. She tried moving her arms again, but they were tied at her sides, as were her legs. She was tied to Liang's back with her chain. The man carried her like a sack.

  "Oh, you're finally awake."

  Toya tried to speak but the slight bobbing of Liang's steps just made her head spin. "C-can... stop." She muttered finally.

  Liang stopped to let Toya collect her thoughts. She looked around at the trees as the memories of before she'd been knocked unconscious flooded into her mind. "Where is..." But so did nausea.

  "To the side. To the side." Liang said before Toya promptly spilled her guts on the ground beside them. Liang groaned slightly as he tried to fling off a few stray chunks that had landed on his pant leg.

  Toya took a few breaths before speaking again. "Where is Xai?"

  Liang continued walking, this time trying to not move his body as much for the sake of his passenger. "He told us to keep going."

  Toya's eyes widened as she tried to move from her chains again. "What do you mean?"

  "Against the fight with the jué, once you'd been knocked unconscious, he told me to grab you and run. So that's what I did." Liang spoke. His voice was quiet, especially for someone who was normally so loud.

  "Are you fucking insane?" Toya shouted, only for a wave of pain in her head to calm her.

  "I trust him."

  "You think he can kill that jué alone?"

  Several more seconds passed. Toya looked up to the deep orange sky. The sun behind her was beginning to set beyond the horizon. Another hour and the sky would be plunged into night. "How long have I been unconscious?"

  "A few hours I think. I had to rest a moment once we'd gotten a fair distance away from the beast. I'm sure most of the other junior disciples have reached the summit by now." Liang's mind flashed back to the corpses near the pond. "The ones who survived anyway."

  "Do you think Xai survived?" Toya asked.

  "He's a skilled fighter."

  "That doesn't answer my question. Plus, the fact he hasn't met up with us by now likely means he died."

  "Don't say that," Liang spoke quietly. "You don't know that. He may not have killed the jué but I know he didn't die to it."

  "How?"

  Liang bit his lip as he kept walking.

  "How, do you know?" Toya asked again.

  "I just know!" He finally shouted.

  The sudden noise made Toya's head pulse again with pain, be she held down the urge to scream. "No, you don't." She spoke, a slight slur to her voice as the pain in her head began to dull. "You just don't want to face the facts. Xai's dead."

  At that, Toya felt the chains holding her to Liang's back suddenly loosen, dropping her to the floor. Toya blinked away the blurriness from her eyes as she looked up to Liang, his face contorted in anger.

  "You're right. I don't know. But guess what? He is the one who told me to take you and run. Do you think I wouldn't have wanted to stay until I drew my last breath fighting that thing with him? He could have left you there to die. He could have told me to just run. But he told me to take you with me." Liang knelt down to get closer to Toya, his face just a bit softer than it was a moment before. "For as nervous as he acts, when things get deadly Xai knows what he's doing. He may not be the strongest of us," he looked at his own form. "And he may not be the quickest." He looked Toya in her crimson eyes. "But I trust him. Even if he did get killed by that jué, he allowed us to live." Liang rose to his feet and turned away. "You best believe, that once we reach the summit, and I get stronger, I am going to beat that jué to death with my own two hands."