Dao of Money

As soon as Chen Ren heard Jun’s voice, warning bells rang through his mind. He didn’t turn to look first—he ran.

The orb in the centre of the master lift glowed faintly, waiting for a command, and Chen Ren rushed straight toward it. His hand struck the surface as he pushed his will into the orb, forcing the command through with everything he had.

Move. Take us to the fifth floor.

The master lift shook beneath his feet.

For one breath, nothing happened. Chen Ren’s heart almost stopped in his chest before the platform finally began to rise. Slowly at first, then with more force, the lift pulled away from the cliff and started moving upward.

But the dread inside him didn’t fade. Chen Ren looked toward the sky to see that Jun was already there.

The man kept pace with the rising lift as if the movement meant nothing to him. Chains of demonic qi stretched from his hands, wrapped tightly around the snow wyvern’s wings. The massive beast thrashed in the air, its dark, frost-covered hide flashing under the light as it fought against the bindings. Its wings beat with enough strength to shake the air, but Jun held on.

The snow wyvern threw its head forward and released a stream of white flames.

Jun stayed there.

A dome of demonic qi formed around him, swallowing the attack before it could touch him.

Zi Wen kept whistling, each sharp call trying to guide the wyvern through the struggle. His face had gone pale. Chen Ren couldn’t blame him. Watching a man contend with the physical strength of a wyvern was enough to make anyone question what kind of monster they were facing.

Still, Chen Ren held onto one hope.

If the wyvern could hold Jun back just long enough, the portal would appear. Once the master lift finished moving, they would be out of this floor. Jun could chase them all he wanted after that, but at least they would have a chance to breathe.

That hope lasted only until Jun glanced toward them.

The next second, his body shifted.

For a moment, Chen Ren couldn’t understand what he was seeing. It was as if reality itself bent around Jun, stretching and splitting until one figure became many.

In the span of a breath, nearly two dozen Juns circled the lift and the wyvern.

Chen Ren’s first thought was that they had to be illusions.

That thought died almost immediately.

Half of the figures broke away and rushed toward the wyvern, while the rest turned their attention to the master lift. Black flames gathered in their hands, burning with thick demonic qi before they fired down at the platform.

Chen Ren reacted at once.

An air shield formed in front of him, spreading wide enough to block the first wave of flames. Around him, the others raised their own defences, layers of qi, light, and elemental barriers forming over the lift.

The black flames struck. They didn’t burst and disappear the way normal fire might have. They clung to the shields.

Chen Ren felt the pressure deepen as the flames hissed against his barrier, eating into the air itself as if they were trying to devour the shield rather than break it.

Chen Ren had never seen anything like it before.

The black flames didn’t simply burn against his air shield. They dug into it, spreading across the surface like something alive. The barrier trembled under the pressure, and Chen Ren knew it wouldn’t hold for long.

He pushed lightning through his hands and struck back.

The moment his lightning met the flames, the reaction was violent.

An explosion rocked the lift.

Chen Ren was thrown backward, his feet leaving the ground before his back slammed hard against the orb in the centre of the platform. Pain shot through his spine, but he forced himself upright almost immediately.

Yalan’s voice cut through the chaos.

“The flames are filled with volatile demonic qi! If you use an element against them, and the force is equally destructive, it will trigger a big explosion!”

Before Chen Ren could fully take that in, another blast shook the lift. Li Xuan was thrown off his feet.

Chen Ren’s eyes widened as Li Xuan hit the platform and rolled straight toward the edge. For one breath, the world seemed to slow. Chen Ren pushed himself away from the orb and rushed after him, but he had already gone over.

“Li Xuan!”

Chen Ren reached the edge and leaned over.

Below the lift, Li Xuan had managed to pull out a flying sword. He clung to it with both arms, his face gone pale as he tried to guide it back upward while the wind battered him from every side.

Chen Ren let out a breath of relief. That relief lasted only a second.

“Sect Leader Chen, look out!”

Princess Yanyue’s shout made him turn at once. One of the Juns was already rushing toward him.

The figure crossed the distance in a blur, fist driving straight for Chen Ren’s chest. Chen Ren had no time to dodge. Starlight armour spread over his flesh just before the punch landed.

The impact still sent him skidding back across the lift.

Chen Ren forced his feet down, raised his hand, and released as much lightning as he could. The blast struck Jun directly.

For a moment, the lightning crawled over his body, bright and violent. But Jun only smiled. He stood there and let it tear through him, his expression almost amused as the lightning began to move strangely.

It didn’t spread the way it should have. It twisted through his body, dragged inward by something Chen Ren couldn’t see.

Chen Ren’s stomach tightened.

Before he could understand what was happening, Jun raised his hand.

The lightning came back. Only now, it was darker.

Demonic qi filled every arc, turning the light into something black and vicious as it shot straight toward Chen Ren.

Chen Ren moved left at once, barely avoiding the dark lightning as it tore past him.

For a second, he could only wonder how such a thing was even possible. Jun had not blocked his lightning or endured it like a normal cultivator. He had taken it in, twisted it with demonic qi, and sent it back as if Chen Ren’s own attack had become his weapon.

If that was what happened to his techniques, then what could he even use against him?

His hand moved toward his storage ring, intending to rely on the items inside instead, but his senses flared before he could take anything out.

Two more Juns rushed toward him. Both had black flames burning in their hands.

Chen Ren shifted to dodge, but one of them suddenly accelerated. The figure crossed the distance so quickly that he barely had time to raise his guard.

Yalan reached him first.

She leapt straight at Jun, her claws digging into his flesh before the man could strike. Jun turned toward her, but Yalan’s claws lengthened, flames bursting from them as she drove her hand toward his mouth.

Fire erupted down his throat.

For a breath, Chen Ren hoped that would be enough, but then Jun’s body burst apart in a wave of demonic qi.

It was just an illusion.

Chen Ren didn’t even have time to check on Yalan.

Chains snapped around his arms and tightened hard, dragging him forward before he could brace himself properly. He forced his weight back, feet grinding against the surface of the master lift as he fought the pull.

His other hand pushed qi into his storage ring.

A thundercrack orb appeared in his palm, and Chen Ren threw it straight at Jun.

Black lightning shot from Jun’s hand at the same time.

It struck the orb in midair. The explosion rang out between them, bright and violent, and the force threw Chen Ren backward again. He hit the lift hard and rolled across the platform, his ears ringing from the blast.

For a few seconds, the world tilted around him. He didn’t stay down.

Chen Ren pushed himself up despite the dizziness clouding his head. His vision swam for a moment before the scene around him sharpened, and when it did, his heart sank.

The master lift had become complete chaos.

On one side of the platform, the twins were fighting three Juns at once. They were still standing, their defences raised and arrows flashing through the air, but the pressure on them was obvious. One attack after another struck their shields, forcing them back step by step.

The twins were being pushed back.

Every time they blocked one attack, another came from the side. Every time they tried to retreat, black flames forced them to stop.

Princess Yanyue wasn’t doing much better.

She kept firing arrow after arrow, silver light flashing around her as three more Juns circled above and around her. They moved like vultures, never staying in one place for long, launching attacks from different angles while forcing her to keep turning her bow from one target to the next.

But the worst situation was in the air.

Zi Wen, Li Xuan, and the snow wyvern were fighting above the master lift.

Sometime while Chen Ren had been occupied, Li Xuan had pulled Zi Wen onto the flying sword. Now the two of them moved through the air beside the wyvern, trying to support the beast against the dozen Juns surrounding it.

It was a losing battle from the start.

The wyvern twisted through the sky, its dark, frost-covered hide flashing between bursts of black flame and white fire. It opened its jaws again and again, sending freezing flames toward the figures chasing it, but more attacks slipped through with every passing second. Cuts opened across its body and scales cracked—blood and frost scattered from its wings whenever another strike landed.

Zi Wen looked helpless. The man kept whistling, his face paling further with panic and effort, while Li Xuan guided the flying sword around the master lift as fast as he could. They tried to draw the Juns away from the wyvern, tried to interrupt the chains and flames aimed at its wings, but there were far too many enemies.

Chen Ren looked up.

There was still no sign of the teleportation circle.

His frown deepened. At this rate, they would be forced off the lift before it could carry them out of the tenth floor. Jun didn’t even need to kill them. He only needed to break their formation, push them one by one into the open air, and keep the master lift from finishing its ascent.

Chen Ren’s mind raced.

There had to be a way to deal with this man. The first thing that came to his mind was to find the original and strike him hard enough, then maybe the rest would fall apart.

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But then his eyes snapped forward.

Yalan had transformed.

Her body had grown larger, flames rolling around her in thick waves as she fought five Juns at once. The fire around her had deepened into a darker crimson, burning hotter as it streamed from her body and followed every movement she made. She leapt from one illusion to another, claws tearing through demonic qi, jaws snapping at anything that came too close.

Chen Ren raised his hand at once, lightning gathering in his palm as he prepared to help her.

A voice spoke behind him.

“Give up. Come with me, and I will give you an easy death once I’m done with you.”

Chen Ren turned. Another Jun hovered above him. But this time, Chen Ren knew at once that this one was different.

He could tell just by looking into his eyes. His eyes were deep and steady, filled with a calm fury that made him feel far more dangerous than the others.

Chen Ren tightened his grip and forced himself to speak. “You know, for someone so meticulous, you give a lot of threats.”

Jun smiled. “Only a limited amount. And for you, they are over.”

He rushed down immediately.

A huge sword formed in his hands, made entirely of demonic qi. It came down with him like a black streak through the air, and Chen Ren raised his hand at once. Lightning gathered into the shape of a blade, bright and violent as he swung it up to block.

The two weapons clashed.

Lightning and demonic qi crashed against each other, sending sparks and black mist bursting across the lift. Chen Ren was pushed back almost instantly, his feet scraping against the platform, but surprise flickered through him.

The force wasn’t as overwhelming as he had expected. For a second, he didn’t understand why. Then it clicked. Jun wasn’t at full strength.

The illusion constructs had taken something from him. Splitting himself into so many bodies, even if they were not true copies, had weakened the original.

Even now, the pressure coming from him was terrifying. But it wasn’t the same suffocating strength Chen Ren had felt before.

For a few brief seconds, Chen Ren wondered if he could actually defeat him.

That thought vanished almost as soon as it came.

The demonic qi around Jun’s blade made a strange swishing sound. Before Chen Ren could pull back, the black energy shifted like a living thing and began crawling up his lightning blade, trying to climb onto his own qi.

Chen Ren’s eyes widened. He tried to retreat, but Jun dropped the blade at once and reached for his neck.

Chen Ren pushed out another layer of [Starlight Armour].

Light spread across his flesh just in time. Jun’s fingers struck the armour and slid aside, the force still hard enough to rattle his bones, but not enough to grab him.

Chen Ren moved before Jun could try again. A bolt of lightning shot from his foot and struck Jun straight in the chest.

Jun only smiled.

That smile… Chen Ren’s instincts screamed.

He formed an air shield behind him and turned at the same moment, just in time to see another Jun break through it with a single punch. The shield shattered almost instantly.

The second Jun stepped through the broken air and swung with his other hand. His fist struck Chen Ren in the shoulder.

Pain burst through his arm as the impact drove him backward again. Chen Ren dropped to the ground at once.

A deadly pressure passed over him almost immediately, close enough that his skin prickled beneath the [Starlight Armour]. He could feel the original Jun moving, could sense an attack coming before he even saw it, but Yalan’s snarl tore through the air before Jun could reach him.

“Pesky cat!” Jun sounded irritated.

Chen Ren didn’t get the chance to look.

The illusion construct was already above him.

It came down fast, fist raised, dark stone spreading over its knuckles as it prepared to smash him into the platform. Chen Ren pushed his hand forward to block, but before the strike could land, a sharp swishing sound cut through the chaos.

A silver arrow struck the construct straight in the head.

Its eyes widened.

The force threw it back, blood bursting from the wound for a single instant before its head blasted apart. The body broke into demonic qi a heartbeat later, vanishing before it could hit the ground.

Chen Ren pulled himself up, frustration burning through his chest.

He was tired of being thrown around. Tired of reacting instead of moving. Tired of Jun making all of them dance on the edge of death like this.

His gaze shifted toward Princess Yanyue.

She stood with her bow still raised, but she looked worse than Chen Ren had ever seen her. Her skin had paled, her breathing was uneven, and her grip on the bow trembled slightly. She had used far too much qi to keep going.

Chen Ren opened his mouth to say something, but purple light suddenly washed over the lift.

He looked up.

The portal had finally appeared.

Relief hit him so hard that, for one brief second, his knees almost weakened. The circle of purple light shimmered above them, growing clearer as the master lift continued to rise.

“Just a little bit more,” Chen Ren said.

He turned back toward Jun and pushed lightning through both arms.

For the first time, Jun looked slightly desperate.

He was locked in battle with Yalan, two demonic blades in his hands as he met her claws again and again. Each clash sent waves of qi rolling across the platform, crimson flames and black demonic energy tearing at each other with every strike.

And after so long, Jun finally seemed like someone they might be able to defeat. He had stretched himself too far.

Above them, most of the illusion constructs had already been dealt with. The snow wyvern circled near the lift, it was now marked with wounds, but its wings still beat with stubborn strength. Zi Wen and Li Xuan remained beside it on the flying sword, and both of them were battered, breathing hard as they looked down at Jun.

The lift kept rising, and the portal waited above. They only needed to hold on a little longer.

The twins were still dealing with the remaining constructs, but at least they were keeping them occupied.

Chen Ren knew they had around a minute before the lift reached the portal. Maybe less. There was no room left to wait, and if they wanted to leave this floor alive, Jun had to be subdued now.

Another clash rang out across the platform.

Jun shifted around Yalan’s claws, trying to slip past her guard and slash at her side. Chen Ren attacked before he could complete the movement. Lightning burst from his hand and struck Jun straight in the chest.

The attack scorched his robes. Jun turned his head, giving Chen Ren a look full of scorn, before forming a dark shield in front of himself to block Yalan’s next attack. Her claws slammed into it with a burst of crimson fire, but Jun’s attention had already moved elsewhere.

He looked up and his face twisted.

Chen Ren followed his gaze and understood at once.

The portal was closer now. The snow wyvern was still circling above the lift with Zi Wen and Li Xuan beside it, and the purple light of the teleportation circle was growing stronger with every passing second.

For the first time, Jun took a step back. His eyes moved across the platform, measuring all of them in a single glance.

“It seems we don’t have any time left,” he said.

For one brief moment, Chen Ren almost hoped Jun would retreat. The hope died immediately.

The illusion constructs that had been fighting the twins suddenly broke away and flew toward Jun. Demonic qi surged around him as they drew closer, folding back into his body like shadows returning to their source.

Jun raised his hand.

The snow wyvern released another stream of freezing white flames at the same time.

A dark beam burst from Jun’s palm and met the flames head-on. For a second, the two attacks struggled against each other in the air, white frost and black demonic qi tearing at the space between them.

The beam pushed through. Chen Ren’s eyes widened.

The attack overpowered the wyvern’s flames and struck the beast directly in the wing. The snow wyvern let out a piercing cry as its body dipped, losing height at once.

Zi Wen shouted.

Before anyone could react, Jun moved the beam to the side.

Zi Wen and Li Xuan raised a shield together, but the beam struck them with terrifying force. Their flying sword shattered beneath them, broken fragments scattering through the air as both of them were thrown toward the side of the lift.

Yalan roared.

Fire engulfed her body as she threw her full weight into Jun’s dark shield, claws digging into it with enough force to make the barrier tremble. But Jun remained calm. He didn’t even turn fully toward her.

His gaze shifted to the twins.

They were already rushing forward, trying to stop him before he could attack again.

Jun turned the beam on them.

Their protection that could stop even a foundation establishment realm attack flared around their bodies as they struck back, but the dark light drilled into it without slowing. Cracks spread across the protective barrier almost instantly before it shattered, and the force hurled both twins off the lift.

Chen Ren shouted.

Lightning gathered above Jun and rained down like thunder, striking again and again with violent force. Jun only raised a shield over his head, blocking the barrage as if it were nothing more than heavy rain.

The dark beam turned toward Chen Ren.

His eyes widened, and he moved to dodge, but a silver arrow shot past him before the beam could reach.

Princess Yanyue’s arrow struck the dark light.

The collision exploded across the lift.

The force slammed into Chen Ren and sent him sprawling backward. His body crashed into the orb at the centre of the master lift, and the surface cracked beneath his weight.

***

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