"You murdered my innocent kin," Tu Shanyan declared, her melodious voice taking on deadly undertones. "Even Maoshan disciples must face consequences for such actions."
BOOM!
Thunder crashed in the distance, so close it shook the mountain stones. The storm was about to break in earnest.
"Fellow Taoist Yimei and Simu," Gustave said urgently, "you two continue after Qianhe. I'll handle our lovely visitor here."
Whether that distant thunder had struck Prince Jingwu's coffin or not, Qianhe needed immediate assistance. Every moment of delay could prove catastrophic.
"Ai, Brother Gustave," Lin Jiu sighed heavily, offering a respectful bow. "We're in your debt."
He grasped Simu's arm and both men sprinted along the old imperial road, their qinggong allowing them to cover ground with supernatural speed.
"Stop! You think to flee so easily?" Tu Shanyan swept her sleeves dramatically, and twin ribbons of crimson silk—matching her flowing robes—shot forth like striking serpents, seeking to ensnare the departing Taoists.
Gustave's hand closed around both silken streams, halting their pursuit with casual strength.
"Miss Tu Shanyan," he said with deliberately provocative lightness, "such anger doesn't suit your beautiful features. While Taoist Yimei may indeed owe you an apology, surely that can wait? Right now, lives hang in the balance."
During their days of observation, Gustave had concluded that Tu Shanyan possessed both striking beauty and a temperament that appealed to his taste. In his younger days, he might have pursued a passionate romance with such an intriguing supernatural being. Now, however, he'd learned that romantic entanglements only complicated the path of cultivation. Still, teasing such a magnificent creature until she showed her claws? That remained an irresistible temptation.
"Hmph," Tu Shanyan sniffed disdainfully, studying his face with newfound distaste. "You're handsome enough, I'll grant, and your cooking skills are exceptional. Your loyalty to friends is even admirable. But this frivolous attitude? You're nothing but a worldly rake."
Her initially favorable impression, built through days of covert observation, evaporated at his casual tone.
"So you were my mysterious admirer these past few days," Gustave said with mock revelation, finally understanding the source of his persistent unease. "I'm flattered by your attention, ma belle, but I fear you've set your sights on an unattainable prize. I am, as they say, the man you cannot have."
The fact that Tu Shanyan had evaded his Observation Haki spoke to considerable supernatural skill. Beneath his playful demeanor, Gustave's alertness sharpened accordingly.
"Bah! What a conceited mman!" Tu Shanyan spat, her perfect features twisting with indignation. "I'm going to beat some humility into you!"
She yanked hard on the silk ribbons, their supernatural strength easily capable of crushing steel. But Gustave was no ordinary human—his electromagnetic-enhanced physiology allowed him to match her pull with equal force. For several seconds they strained against each other, neither yielding ground.
SNAP!
The crimson silk tore apart, sending both combatants staggering backward.
Tu Shanyan's eyes widened with surprise. She'd expected Gustave to possess formidable thunder magic, but this raw physical strength from an apparently human opponent defied explanation. Her fox heritage granted her supernatural power that should have overwhelmed any mortal.
Realizing that prolonged testing would only waste time, Tu Shanyan decided to end this quickly and pursue her real targets.
She produced an elegant sword from... somewhere, her movements fluid as flowing water. With a graceful thrust, she projected a massive blade-shadow that screamed through the air toward Gustave, carrying enough power to cleave mountains.
Recognizing the technique's devastating potential, Gustave dissolved into crackling electricity, reappearing twenty feet away as the sword-shadow carved a crater where he'd been standing.
"Impossible," Tu Shanyan breathed, staring at the dissipating lightning. "Thunder magic I've seen before, but actual elemental transformation? Are you some kind of thunder spirit wearing human form?"
The implications were staggering. No mere mortal Taoist could achieve such metamorphosis.
"Tsk, tsk," Gustave chided playfully. "It's impolite not to reciprocate a lady's hospitality."
CRACK!
Lightning blazed across the storm-darkened sky, a bolt of pure electrical fury that illuminated the entire valley as it lanced toward Tu Shanyan.
The fox immortal's supernatural reflexes saved her—barely. She twisted aside at the last instant, but the superheated air still scorched her right sleeve, revealing the pale, perfect skin beneath.
"You dare ruin my favorite dress?" Tu Shanyan's voice climbed to a murderous shriek.
Her sword moved in complex patterns, and suddenly the air filled with thousands of gleaming blades—each one real, each one deadly. They formed an intricate formation that simultaneously defended her position and pressed forward in coordinated assault.
"Merde," Gustave muttered, genuinely impressed despite himself. "I thought fox spirits relied on seduction and illusion. Since when do they practice sword cultivation like some kind of Taoist prodigy?"
Tu Shanyan's combat style shattered every stereotype he'd held about fox demons.
But Gustave possessed advantages beyond thunder. With a subtle gesture, he extended his electromagnetic field into the sword formation. The precisely spinning blades began to slow, their coordination faltering as invisible forces disrupted their flight paths.
"What's happening?" Tu Shanyan demanded, panic creeping into her voice as her perfect formation ground to a halt. "What sorcery is this?"
"Ma chère," Gustave said with insufferable smugness, "perhaps you've spent too long in mountain seclusion. Haven't you heard? The times, they are a-changing."
Another casual hand movement sent her entire sword formation reversing direction, the blades now pointing toward their creator.
"What kind of magic allows this?" Tu Shanyan gasped, feeling her spiritual connection to the weapons while simultaneously losing all control over them.
"Magic?" Gustave's eyebrows rose with theatrical offense. "I'm merely human, remember? You're the one wielding supernatural powers here."
His deadpan delivery of the complaint sent Tu Shanyan's fury beyond all reasonable bounds.
"Damn! Damn! DAMN!" she screamed, her composure finally cracking completely. Not only had her techniques been turned against her, but now she was being mocked for her ignorance!
If sword techniques could be countered so easily, she'd resort to the demon clan's most fundamental strength.
BOOM!
Another lightning bolt split the sky—this one natural rather than Gustave's creation—and heavy rain began cascading from the storm clouds.
The downpour had no effect on Gustave; his electromagnetic field vaporized each droplet before it could touch him, creating billowing clouds of steam that made him appear wreathed in white mist.
Tu Shanyan employed different methods to stay dry. A colossal shadow materialized around her—the translucent outline of a six-tailed fox nearly a hundred meters tall. Raindrops struck the phantom form and simply vanished.
HOWWWWL!
The massive fox spirit threw back its head and bayed at the storm-torn heavens before raising one enormous paw to swipe at Gustave, who leaped clear with room to spare.
"You think size is your exclusive advantage?" Gustave called out mockingly.
His human form dispersed into pure electricity. Lightning from heaven and earth answered his call, coalescing into the towering figure of his Thunder God avatar—matching the six-tailed fox in scale and presence.
Tu Shanyan's phantom form went rigid with shock. She recognized this manifestation immediately—the same Thunder Giant who had battled the Fat Doll demon alongside the mysterious Heavenly Master a year ago.
That legendary fight had drawn attention from every supernatural faction in China. Tu Shanyan had used divination techniques to witness the combat retrospectively, watching the Thunder Giant clash with the thousand-meter magma demon in battles that reshaped the landscape. Before achieving her seventh tail, she understood perfectly that such power lay beyond her current capabilities.
"Even if you fought gods and demons," she declared with desperate bravado, "I, Tu Shanyan, will not be intimidated!"
Sometimes pride mattered more than survival. Even knowing she faced a superior opponent, her wounded dignity demanded satisfaction. Like many powerful women throughout history, Tu Shanyan's fury had overcome her sense of self-preservation entirely.
The storm raged overhead as two colossal supernatural beings prepared to settle their dispute through the ancient language of violence. Thunder answered lightning, while fox-fire met electromagnetic fury in a confrontation that would shake the very foundations of the mountain valley.
In the distance, Lin Jiu and Simu raced through the downpour toward whatever catastrophe awaited them, trusting their friend to handle the six-tailed immortal whose grief had sparked this dangerous evening.