Whoosh! In the dark of night, Jill Young traced a distant arc through the sky and crashed to the ground with a thunderous boom, sending fierce gusts of wind in all directions.
Jill stood up, shook out her right arm again, and looked thoroughly annoyed. "So this is internal power? Not bad, I guess."
She'd just traded blows with Terrence Bar. His arm strength was nothing to write home about—totally not Jill's match. But the strange internal force in his palm had crept all the way up Jill's arm. It was a weird feeling, kind of like sulfuric acid flowing through your veins. If she hadn't been caught off guard, Jill's punch would have shattered Terrence right there—no way he'd still be breathing.
"Nope, gotta find somewhere to shake this off." She glanced back at the pursuers, deciding to lay low for now. Eyeing the endless mountain range ahead, Jill tucked the kid into her arms, pushed off with her feet, and shot forward again.
After a while, Walter Huan showed up with his crew. Spotting the footprints on the ground, Walter shouted, "See, folks? That woman doesn't know internal power at all—she can't even do lightfoot kung fu! Just look at these heavy prints, same as any ordinary person. She won't get far. After her!"
A bunch of guys, torches blazing, hollered and chased after the footprints. In their minds, having no internal power was like being defenseless. Terrence Bar's palm strike should've wrecked her heart meridian, or at least messed it up—how far could she possibly run?
But the more they chased, the weirder it got—the footprints kept getting farther apart, the stride growing wider and wider. Walter pictured it: that white-haired woman must've blasted off with every step, flying a dozen yards before touching down again. The further they chased, the more spooked Walter got.
Trying to look tough but feeling shaky inside, Walter forced himself to shout, "Keep after her! No matter what, we have to catch that wretch!"
But after chasing a bit further, most of the guys started hesitating. The footprints were headed straight for the snowy mountain, no sign of turning back. Freezing wind, pitch-black night, and a giant snow-capped peak—nobody wanted to just waltz in there. Chasing would be a nightmare. The men looked at each other, unsure if they should keep going.
"Island Lord Wu, I've got an idea," William Bo piped up. "All we're worried about is that woman reaching the demoness first and blowing our cover. If we make sure she can't warn her, we can take out the demoness just fine. The rest is just details, right?"
"Just as Lord William said!" Walter Huan had no intention of chasing after them either. The image of someone lifting that giant bronze cauldron with one hand was still fresh in his mind—no way was he going to risk his neck for nothing. Time to go with the flow: "So, Lord William, what do you suggest?"
"If you ask me, why not split up?" William Bo grinned, eyes twinkling. "Tonight, all the elite from each island have come here for this bloody alliance, but we've still got our main force waiting in secret for orders. So, one group joins up with the army and storms Tianshan, catching that witch off guard. The other group stays here, half searching, half guarding, just to keep her from spreading the word. As long as we take out the witch, that white-haired woman is just a side quest. Lord Walter, what do you think?"
"Uh..." Wasn't this just the classic "let the boss leave first" routine? Walter Huan nodded vigorously: "Yep, sounds right! Lord William, you really are a mastermind!"
"Haha, flattery will get you nowhere." The two kept hyping each other up, seeing the same glint in each other's eyes. If there's a chance, grab it; if there's danger, let someone else take it. Only after the coast is clear do you jump in—yep, birds of a feather.
"But this spot is crucial—we can't let that woman slip away. Someone needs to stay and keep watch..." You can't have all the leaders leave, or if something goes wrong here, it's a real mess. So, who gets stuck with this thankless job?
Just as they were thinking, Terrence Bar—now with one arm in a sling—came stomping up, all patched and bandaged. Internal Energy is handy; one pressure point and the bleeding stops. A minute ago, Terrence looked half-dead, but now he was charging in, hair standing on end, yelling as he ran: "You—over there! You—yeah, you! Move over! Everyone, stay sharp! Don't let that witch get away!"
Seeing this, Walter Huan and William Bo traded glances and grinned. Looks like they've found their candidate.
Meanwhile, Jill Young was climbing up the ridge. Wind and snow couldn't slow her down, and the thin air at high altitude was just a drizzle. Wrapping the kid close, Jill scrambled up, hands and feet working together. She could hear the shouting below, but couldn't be bothered—she had her own problems to solve first.
She dashed upward, leaping over chasms and scaling cliffs with ease. Spots where normal folks wouldn't even have a foothold? Jill had two tricks up her sleeve.
First, if it's under twenty meters high—just jump up.
Second, if it's over twenty meters—take it in a few jumps.
Even places that would make a mountain goat nervous, Jill zipped past like she was flying. Once her Titan Spirit Method hit the strength of a dragon, she started breaking into superhuman territory.
The higher she climbed, the colder it got. But Jill's blood was pumping hot, her body temperature actually rising, keeping the kid warm too. The kid was weird—Jill was running, jumping, and doing extreme rock climbing, but she didn't fuss or cry, just stared at Jill with those big round eyes. There was a hint of awe in her gaze.
Whoosh—Jill flipped herself up onto a broken cliff. She was nearly in the clouds now, with biting wind and thick fog everywhere. Looking down, she could see the torch-carrying mob still scrambling up the mountain. Given how steep and high it was, chasing her would be a pain in the neck for them.
"Whew—alright, this is the spot." Any higher and the air would be too thin. Jill was fine, but the kid wouldn't handle it. "Let's see what this so-called Internal Energy is all about."
Jill sat cross-legged at the edge, plopped the kid on her lap, and popped a sub-par meat pill in her mouth. Whoosh—her blood surged like ocean waves. Her heart thundered, her body temperature shot up, turning her into a human furnace. The icy wind couldn't touch her; snow around her melted. Within three feet, it felt like summer.
This chapter isn't over yet ^.^—click next page to keep reading!
The awe in the baby's eyes grew even stronger—almost shock now.
Jill was busy channeling her blood and energy, totally missing the kid's reaction. Eyes closed, teeth gritted, she muttered, "Internal Energy... what even is this stuff...?"
To Jill, the invading Internal Energy felt bizarre—completely different from her own blood and physical strength. They seemed connected, but didn't interfere with each other. If her blood and strength were like infrared light, then Internal Energy was visible light. Both are energy, but on totally different frequencies.
Jill's training had made her body tough as nails—no harsh environment could shake her. Like a fortress: thick walls, fierce guards, and tight security. Nothing harmful was getting in.
But Internal Energy wasn't a weapon—it was more like mice or termites. Fortresses and guards aren't built to fight off rodents, so these little pests slipped right in and caused chaos. That's why Terrence Bar and Walter Huan were sure Jill would be badly hurt after that hit—without Internal Energy, you can't fight Internal Energy. Like termites in a wall, sooner or later it all comes crashing down.
But what they didn't expect was that Jill's fortress wasn't ordinary. Normal people's walls are made of mud—termites chew right through. But Jill's was practically a steel fortress.
The Internal Energy ran wild inside her, but couldn't do any real damage. Jill's blood roared, and her mind surged too. Suddenly, she snapped her eyes open, roared, and slammed her palm into the ground.
Crack! The rock split with a web of fractures, bits of stone flying everywhere. The baby's eyes went wide—her little face practically spelled out "unbelievable."
"Whew..." Jill exhaled and stood up, rolling her neck and loosening her waist. Ah, much better—her limbs felt nimble again. "What a wild day—ran into a bunch of freaks right off the bat. And this Internal Energy stuff really is something. Seems like it's especially nasty for living beings. Even that 'No Brain, Just Die' guy managed to mess me up for ages. I wonder what level 'No Brain, Just Die' is on in the martial arts world."
If 'No Brain, Just Die' counts as a top-tier fighter, Jill could steamroll the rest and celebrate. If he's just a mid-level boss, she'd need to be careful, but no big deal. If he's bottom of the barrel... that means this world is packed with secret techniques, and Jill would be even happier!
"Same old plan—find a local and ask around." And by local, she meant the folks down the mountain. The group had split: two hundred had left, with a hundred-plus still climbing. Most of them had Internal Energy, and if each threw a punch, even Jill would feel it. But this wasn't a turn-based RPG—out here, under the dark sky, Jill just grinned, stroking her chin.
"Trying to jungle with me—pfft! You wanna play tracker, I'll play you into the ground!" Jill pulled out something from her storage space—the Six-Armed Warrior's short spear. "Whoa, this thing's got heft." She weighed it in her hand—about a hundred kilos. One short spear, a hundred kilos—who knows what metal it's made of. Crack! She jammed it into the rock; smooth as shoveling sand. Jill glanced down the mountain, ready to pry off a chunk of boulder.
"Who are these people, anyway? Something about Eighteen Hollows, Thirty-Six Isles, whatever. Heh, cut the numbers in half and today's mess almost feels like..." Jill paused, then looked down at the kid in her arms.
The clouds above parted, and the child gazed quietly at her, big eyes reflecting the starlight.
Jill stopped prying at the rock, lifted the kid up to eye level, squinted, and said slowly, "Girlie... you know, newborns aren't supposed to be able to stare at someone this long..."