Lu Na caught up with the two ladies running toward danger. She never understood how these two ladies would rush in so easily. Maybe it was experience or practice over the years. Lu Na couldn’t do that until now.

  “Wait, let me go first,” Lu Na said.

  “Why? You’re weak. You won’t last one strike from anyone, let alone an Elder,” Senior Wong said.

  “No, but I have defenses. Remember how I defended against your attack back at the village?”

  “And back in the sect and your home. I never forget my humiliations. Fine, you want to walk ahead then go. I won’t stop you from getting killed.” Senior Wong stepped aside.

  “Don’t worry, we’ll cover your back. Just keep your spirit wall up and use the earth wall as soon as you get inside,” Sun Ren said. She patted Lu Na on the shoulder. It was probably the most reassuring thing Lu Na had felt since she came inside the labyrinth.

  Lu Na took a deep breath and walked ahead. The sounds were getting louder as if a war was being fought. An explosion flashed brightly in their narrow hallway. She didn’t wait any longer. She flicked her wrist to the right and formed the spirit skin all over her body. Now if only she could do the same with the earth wall, then she’d be set against both physical and spirit attacks.

  A flash of lightning struck ahead, blinding Lu Na. Whatever it was, it shoved her back against the two other ladies.

  Lu Na flicked her wrist to the left, and an earth wall rose from the ground. A loud thud cracked the earth wall. She flicked her wrist again and another earth wall rose. Another thud hit it, but then stopped.

  “Release the wall and stay back,” Senior Wong ordered.

  Lu Na released her fist and the walls collapsed. She still couldn’t see, but she felt someone move past her. Another hand held onto her shoulder, steadying her.

  “Don’t worry, I’m still here,” Sun Ren said. “Can you see?”

  Lu Na rubbed her eyes. She saw into the room where the Wintersweet Sect was. Something turned all the pillars standing in the way to dust. The room looked more like an open space with piles of gravel everywhere.

  Senior Wong stood with her enlarged metal rooster facing down a group of spirits. Her arms looked like they were dipped in metal and they glimmered from the small fires that burned around the room.

  “You weaklings think you can stand up to me?”

  Lu Na followed Sun Ren out of the narrow hallway. There were flashes of light that forced Lu Na to shield her eyes. They came from a short distance away from Senior Wong.

  The disciples in the dark blue tunics were cowering behind Senior Wong. The room was now hot from all the fire that was thrown around.

  “Are you good?” Sun Ren asked Senior Wong.

  “I am here, but that fight over there is worrying me.”

  Lu Na saw Hen Li fighting bare handed with a large cat spirit with the help of the female Elder. It was the one that helped her when she fought Senior Wong in the restaurant. Watching the older woman was amazing. While Hen Li kept up with the cat spirit, the female Elder threw fireballs at it.

  At the opposite corner from that, Elder Hen and Hen Li’s five colored hound, Panhu, was fighting a brown horse with a purple mane. It looked more like Panhu was protecting the Elder from being run over by the horse.

  “Please help my elders.” Lu Fen and a few of her fellow disciples bowed to Lu Na and Sun Ren. “We know that you have powerful wards or something. If they die, we can’t fight against their spirits.”

  “Lu Fen, you’re alive,” Lu Na said.

  “Yes, cousin. Please, help them.”

  Lu Na nodded. Granted, they weren’t actually cousins despite the same family name that she remembered made her smile. She needed little excuse to help family after all.

  Lu Na clenched her left fist. She pictured what she wanted in her head and really focused on using as much spirit energy as she could. She was dealing with high stage summoners.

  “What do you need me to do?” Sun Ren asked.

  “I’m going to create a cage for the horse attacking Elder Hen. He needs the most help. Do you think you can help the other Elder that is with Hen Li?”

  “On it.” Sun Ren unsheathed two of her daggers and ran toward the cat spirit that was now shooting fireballs of her own at Hen Li and the Elder.

  Lu Na bit her lip. She flicked her wrist right toward Sun Ren and placed a spirit skin on her. She wasn’t sure how long it would last, but better something than nothing when fighting such a powerful spirit.

  Lu Na turned toward Elder Hen. The last time she made a wall powered by null metal back in the Wintersweet compound, he couldn’t break it. Now she was hoping it was because of how strong the wall was and not because of the flagging strength of Elder Hen.

  Lu Na focused the image in her head. This time, she wanted to create a very concentrated earth wall and combine the spirit energy in the earth as much as possible. She only had one chance at this because if she failed, the horse might kill her in a second. It had speed beyond anything she could react to.

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  When she had the image in her head well enough, she flicked her wrist to the left. The wall of the labyrinth shook as a stone wall cut across the room. It blocked the horse off from Elder Hen and Panhu, forming a triangle with two adjacent walls. Then, Lu Na pushed her left fist forward, creating a ceiling over the wall, locking it in.

  Lu Na relaxed her fist as her wrist burned. It was only a small heat, but any more burning, she’ll sear her wrist. She was hungry, but not hungry enough to eat her own hand.

  Panhu howled once and then turned to fight the cat spirit Hen Li was still dealing with.

  Elder Hen collapsed to the floor, breathing heavily as he stared at the wall.

  “Thank you Young Miss Lu, you are a—”

  The wall cracked from the loud thud on the other side, causing a part of the roof to fall off. It almost crashed into Elder Hen. He got up and sat down next to Lu Na.

  “Can you fix that crack?” Elder Hen asked.

  Lu Na looked down at her burning wrist. Her left hand was shaking.

  “No, I don’t think I can do that again. Or else my hand is going to fall off.”

  Elder Hen examined her wrist.

  “The spirit energy you’re absorbing into the null metal is overheating it.”

  “Tell me something I don’t know. Is there something you can do to help Hen Li and the Elder?” Lu Na rubbed her wrist. She could take the bracelet off and put it on her right hand, but that wouldn’t stop the burning.

  “What you need to do is to absorb the spirit energy into your body,” Elder Hen said.

  “What? How do you do that?”

  “While you’re not a practicing summoner, it’s a simple technique you can do. Most people do it every time they breathe. Can you feel the spirit energy in the air?”

  “If you’re talking about breathing in the spirit energy to absorb them or whatever, that’s too hard. I couldn’t do it at all.”

  “Good, you have an idea. This time it’ll be easier. You’re going to absorb the spirit energy into your body through your skin instead.”

  “Wait, wouldn’t that just make me overheat?” Lu Na thought about the spirit energy burning her body like it did her bracelet. Her body wouldn’t be able to take that kind of heat, at least not for long.

  Elder Hen smiled, his wrinkled face becoming more wrinkled, if that were possible.

  “Child, I’ve been doing this for so long. Just trust me. Now focus on the bracelet. Do you feel the spirit energy in it?”

  Lu Na closed her eyes to focus. She felt the burning through the leather wrap, but she saw it as spirit energy.

  “Yes, I can sense the dense burning spirit energy there.”

  “Good, now just like how you’d breathe in spirit energy, let it flow into your skin instead. You might have to move it with your mind.”

  Lu Na tugged at the spirit energy. To her surprise, it was as simple as when she had her spirit wand. The only difference was that she couldn’t control where it went. The spirit energy sunk deep into her skin. Soon enough, it began traveling up her arm.

  “Good, you’re doing good. Now, instead of trying to separate it and pull it into your spirit realm, push it down through your legs and back into the earth.”

  Lu Na followed Elder Hen’s instructions. It was one of the most interesting feelings she’d had in ages. Spirit energy would tickle her from time to time when she made the wards, but this feeling was almost like holding onto the flame of a candle. Soon enough, all the dense spirit energy traveled down into the ground.

  The bracelet no longer burned.

  Lu Na opened her eyes and shook it for a second. It was cool to the touch, despite being so hot not too long ago. Even the leather cooled off.

  “This is amazing.”

  Elder Hen nodded.

  “Now, think you can use that bracelet to help my son?”

  Lu Na clenched her fist and then created the same wall to cage the cat spirit. An earth wall rose from the wall of the labyrinth to the other side, creating a triangle.

  But before Lu Na could make the ceiling, the cat jumped onto the wall in one leap. It looked around until it locked eyes with Lu Na and hissed.

  “Move, Elder Xu,” Hen Li shouted.

  “Oh, no you don’t.” Elder Xu lifted two fingers into the air and a flash of light shot at the cat spirit. It completely missed.

  The cat spirit already leaped into the air, with its claws out, coming for Lu Na and Elder Hen.

  Lu Na pushed her left hand out. Her spirit wall activated, but she focused it into the smallest, tiniest square she could. Then a stone wall rose from the ground in front of her and Elder Hen. It all happened in a moment, to be broken through just as quickly.

  The cat spirit slammed into the small square of concentrated spirit wall, breaking it with its chest. Despite slowing it down, it shredded the wall with its claws before shattering the stone wall with the rest of its body.

  Lu Na grabbed Elder Hen and took a few steps back, but froze when the other stone wall holding the horse spirit broke open. The brown horse glared at Lu Na and Elder Hen, its purple mane swaying as if there was wind blowing it.

  Both spirits didn’t move as they stared each other down and at their prey standing between them.

  “What do we do?” Lu Na asked.

  “We pray to our ancestors,” Elder Hen said. “We’re too close for Elder Xu to strike them without killing the both of us and my son won’t be fast enough to reach us. Let’s hope our deaths will be quick at least.”

  Lu Na clenched her left fist hard. The burning reminded her to move the spirit energy down through her body, but it wasn’t moving fast enough. There was only one thing to do.

  Lu Na pictured an earth dome, but a little different this time. She pictured large spikes on the outside. Finally, she looked at the ground, thinking about all the spirit energy she had been pushing into it.

  “Elder Hen, respectfully, when they both charge at us, I need you to get down onto the ground and lie as flat as you can,” Lu Na said.

  Elder Hen nodded.

  As if that was the signal both of the spirits needed, the cat pounced at the pair while the horse charged. Lu Na and Elder Hen dropped to the ground.

  Lu Na raised the earth dome over them with spikes. It covered them in darkness in an instant. Next she created a spirit wall just above both her and Elder Hen.

  The earth dome cracked from the spirits’ charge.

  “I didn’t think I was going to die from my spirit,” Elder Hen said. His eyes closed and hands pressed together in prayer.

  “I’m not dying today.” Lu Na focused on all that dense spirit energy in the ground that she pulled from her bracelet. Then she focused on the tiger claw technique from Sect Leader Wong. With one thrust of her arm, the tiger claw exploded outward using all the concentrated spirit energy.

  The dome exploded with a flash of purple light from the tiger claw technique and dust went everywhere. Lu Na hoped that the spikes and the tiger claw technique would stop the two spirits.

  When it finally settled, Lu Na opened her eyes only to look up at both the cat spirit and horse spirit staring down at her.

  Maybe it was time to pray to her ancestors after all.