With a thought, Jie made her qi armor react to the icy ground beneath her with a sizzling crack, using it to run toward Pan Tian at incredible speed. Her hip screamed with every step but she ignored it as she raced toward her friend.

  Her mind went immediately to the nine clouds healing pill she'd stored in her ring. Just in case she needed overwhelming healing power. The pill appeared in her hand as she closed the distance between her and Pan Tian in the blink of an eye.

  She brought the pill up toward Pan Tian's lips as some distant part of her mind told her the healing energies might help stabilize Pan Tian long enough to pull her free of the spike.

  But, before Jie could push the pill into Pan Tian's mouth, a piece of the base of the spike impaling Pan Tian broke off into a chunk larger than her chest.

  It shot toward Jie and slammed into her stomach with such force that it shattered her qi armor into crackling fragments. It drove hard into her stomach, knocking the air out of her lungs as it lifted her feet off the floor and sent her flying back.

  The impact caused the nine clouds healing pill to fly out of Jie's fingers. It bounced off Pan Tian's chest then fell at her feet and rolled across the ground as Jie collapsed in a heap.

  Jie shoved the chunk of rock off her stomach and took in a shuddering, wheezing breath as she scrambled to her hands and feet and rushed toward the pill, all else seeming to fade away.

  But, before she could reach the pill, the rock under her burst outward and expanded over her feet and hands, rooting her in place. It brought her to an abrupt stop that sent pain shooting through her joints.

  Elder Kanev landed with a heavy thud beside Jie, spraying her face with shards of ice. It felt like he'd teleported as she'd been too focused on Pan Tian to sense him move.

  Jie struggled and snarled, howling like a feral animal as she strained against the rock restraining her. But Elder Kanev flooded it with spiritual energy, reinforcing it against her.

  She tried to form dragonfists around her hands, hoping to make them react to the rock so she could blast her way free. But Elder Kanev clenched his hand into a fist and the rock crushed her hands. She felt her fingers snap and bend the wrong way as the bones in her palms shattered.

  Jie screamed. The pain broke her concentration, disrupting her technique as tears ran hot from her intense blue eyes only to freeze upon her cheeks.

  Ahead of her, Pan Tian tried to pull herself up and off the spike impaling her with shaking hands. But the rock was slick with her blood and her trembling fingers slipped clumsily upon it.

  "What's that? A healing pill?" Elder Kanev asked, his voice saturated with amusement as he walked up to the green pill on the ground.

  He bent down and picked it up then held it up to his icy gray eyes.

  Xue roared and Jie felt him scream at her through their bond. She grasped the connection and her body lit up with an ethereal glow.

  Suddenly, the rock that bound her felt as though it were made of a thick soup and Jie wriggled free as Elder Kanev stared at her incredulously.

  Jie charged him, reaching for the pill with broken hands. He reinforced his hand with frost qi and tried to swat her away with a backhand.

  The blow passed through her arms and her chest like a cold fire that burned her tissue. His arm and his energies caught on her slightly as though she were still half physical.

  Jie cried out but pushed through despite the pain. Propelled forward by blind desperation.

  "What the--" Elder Kanev said.

  Jie reached out with both hands, trying to catch the pill between her mangled wrists. Each of her fingers was broken at several different angles but she stared only at the nine clouds healing pill.

  Elder Kanev gathered a swirling orb of dense frost qi around his hand and drove it into Jie's chest with his palm. The orb of frost qi exploded inside Jie, sending her flying backward despite her etherealness as sharp, cold pain radiated through every cell of her body.

  The blinding pain caused Jie to lose control of her ability. Her etherealness faded and she landed hard upon the frozen stone.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Jie turned onto her stomach and scrambled to her feet using her elbows to prop herself up.

  Xue roared and leaped at Elder Kanev, his entire body crackling with dragon lightning qi as he lit up with the same ethereal glow.

  Elder Kanev sidestepped the attack. Then, drove a similar orb of frost into Xue, sending him flying backward. Xue cried out with an agonized snarl that cut off abruptly as he crashed into the bottom step of the stone pyramid. He slumped down and lay still as his skills faded, turning him corporeal and shrinking him back down to normal as his bulging muscles returned to their usual size and the blue glow of his stripes went out.

  "It seems the rumors are true. Spirit tigers truly do fight like ghosts. But how did you get that ability?" Elder Kanev asked.

  Jie glared at him with pure hatred and staggered toward him. Every part of her body throbbed with pain and each step sent a sharp stabbing pain through her hip.

  Elder Kanev waved his hand contemptuously. The ice beneath Jie's feet cracked as the ground slid to the side, sending her crashing down into a heap as pain shot through her mangled hands.

  A muffled cry escaped Jie's lips.

  "What were you going to do even if I let you have this pill?" Elder Kanev asked as he rolled it between his fingers, "Pull her free and watch her splutter and wheeze her final breaths? She'd only die faster if you did that."

  Pan Tian's arms fell limp at her sides as blood dripped from her lips. Her chest continued rising and falling and a quick glance at Xue confirmed the same. Though Jie felt his pain through their bond.

  "You know... this pill does feel quite strong..." Elder Kanev mused, "I'd almost say it's... no... is this a nine clouds healing pill?"

  Elder Kanev's lips split into a smile. "So, you're linked to the mysterious expert that's been buying these up?" he asked, "Oh the Chen family is going to love that."

  Jie scrambled back to her feet and ran toward Elder Kanev, her hip jolting with every step. He pulled at the air but Jie predicted it and boosted off a lightning step platform as the ground shifted beneath her feet.

  He stomped his foot and a pillar of rock burst out of the ground ahead of her. It slammed into her chest, knocking her back down as pain flared through her ribs.

  Jie fell hard on her back and slid across the ice. She opened her mouth to suck in a breath, but it got stuck around a silent cry of pain in her throat.

  "Oh, so close!" Elder Kanev mocked.

  Jie rolled onto her stomach and hissed against the sharp pain that flared through her chest as she did so. She finally managed to inhale. It felt like someone was stabbing her in the side with a jagged knife with every breath.

  Elder Kanev's expression turned grave as he stared down at her. "You may have taken me by surprise with your speed at the start, but I won't make the mistake of underestimating you again," he said as Jie rose to her elbows and knees.

  Elder Kanev shook his head. "Heavens why won't you just give up?! Your body is shaking. Your hands are broken. Your friend is going to die. It's over. You cannot win," he said, "why even bother struggling?"

  Jie got one foot under her and stood again on trembling legs, favoring one side of her hip.

  Elder Kanev snickered and played with the pill between his fingers.

  "You know," he said as he stared into its depths, "I'm almost tempted to let you use this on her. Then, I could break her over and over again until you ran out of healing pills."

  The shining silvery-white full moon in the air faded away as Pan Tian's skill faltered, plunging the chamber into darkness.

  Still, Pan Tian clung stubbornly to life. Her olive green eyes locked on Jie's. Her lips formed the shape of words but only a wet gurgling sound came out as tears froze on Pan Tian's cheeks.

  The fumes of qi left within Jie's dantian slammed into the barrier to her middle dantian again... and again... thundering against it but failing to break through as Jie staggered toward Elder Kanev and the healing pill once more.

  Elder Kanev tapped his foot on the floor and a spike of rock burst upward underneath Jie's right foot. It punched through the ice and pierced through her flesh and bone.

  Jie cried out as her legs buckled and she fell to one knee. With a growl, she steeled her resolve and forced herself back to her feet despite the pain.

  She gritted her teeth and tried to lift her foot off the spike. But Elder Kanev waved his hands in the air and the tip of the stone flowed to the side, bending like a fish hook and looping back into the ground, fixing Jie in place.

  Jie panted heavily as blood trickled from her foot over the icy floor.

  She grunted against the pain as she struggled to latch onto the ethereal power Xue had directed her toward several times now. She fumbled at first but finally found it and her skin started to glow.

  "None of that now," Elder Kanev said as he tapped his foot against the ground again and another spike shot through Jie's other foot.

  Jie inhaled sharply as she arched her back and shuddered from the sharp pain. She gritted her teeth so hard they ached as she let out a muffled scream through her tightly pressed lips.

  She desperately tried to maintain her grip on her ethereal ability as Elder Kanev turned his hand in the air, twisting the spike in her foot. The glow covering her flickered off and on as she strained to ignore the pain and maintain her focus.

  Elder Kanev gave her a frustrated look and expanded his hand with an angry flick of his wrist. The spike impaling Jie's left foot exploded into a forest of them, several of which pierced Jie's shin.

  Jie opened her mouth to scream but only a soft, strangled sob escaped her lips as her control slipped entirely and the glow died.

  "Heavens you're stubborn. Why'd you have to make this so much harder for everyone?" Elder Kanev asked.

  Jie looked up at Pan Tian as she felt a shift in her aura.

  Resplendent moonlight qi leaked out from Pan Tian's wound, streaming upward in whisps of beautiful silver-white light.

  Elder Kanev laughed. "Would you look at that? I think I broke her dantian. Oh, Lord Chen Liang is going to enjoy that. The Pan brat gets to die a cripple while you watch," he said, "and I remember how much you loved that before."

  https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0DM1R7ZNZ

  https://www.patreon.com/c/darengillingham

  https://www.subscribestar.com/daren-gillingham