Chapter 148: Chang Chang And The Summoning (2/2)

Chang Chang rolled into a kneeling position, gasping for breath. Her foot and ankle throbbed with searing pain, and she wasn't certain she could stand. She knew she had to defeat the beast before it could recover from the power of the seal. She took out an energy replenishing pill from her spatial sac and crunched it in her mouth. With renewed energy, Chang Chang turned and saw the dreadbeast trying to break free from the seal.

She held her astral glaive at the ready and advanced toward the floundering, snarling beast. She feinted to one side and got one of the heads swaying that direction. Before the dreadbeast could bring the other head in the direction of the young blood, she stepped the opposite way and in close, swinging the astral weapon. The blade connected and the young blood heard a deep thump.

The beast's head and neck snapped up and back, recoiling with violent force from the deadly strike. Before the beast could recover, she struck again and the whole appendage bounced against the beast's flank before it slid down to the ground and lay still. Chang Chang raised the glaive and smiled. A little more for her to rejoice in triumph. Then, the young blood dashed forward to press the attack home against the great beast's other head. The beast puffed with its might, releasing smoke which swirled thickly and obscured the young blood once more.

Chang Chang adjusted her eyes without stopping. She had to press forward. The dreadbeast thunderous roar filled the whole place as the ground vibrated. Chang Chang swing the glaive in circle and the swirling smoke parted briefly. The remaining one of the dreadbeast's serpentine heads suddenly lurched forward, but Chang Chang was deft enough to evade it while performing her ultimate mystical move.

The Blood Of The Saints.

She had been waiting for this time. Now, she could perform the art successfully. When the move was complete, Chang Chang jumped upward and slashed the glaive twice, diagonally.  The head of the dreadbeast exploded into a million pieces. Its body slumped to the ground, lifeless.

At that moment, Chang Chang appeared again, chopping into the great first head of her foe. With both hands, the young blood drove the head of her glaive deep into the creature's breast. The strike raked down its embered flesh, cutting open a wound that sprayed white-hot goo. Chang Chang spun away, flailing at the scalding fluids as they overwhelmed the magic of his ring to burn his face and hands. But the blow she had delivered was the killing one.

The giant thing shuddered and collapsed to the ground. For a few moments, a few of its necks twitched and writhed, but Chang Chang was certain it was dead. Thanks to the blood saints, Chang Chang thought, sagging onto her back, exhausted. Being mangled by a giant double-headed beast of fire was not the way she had expected her summoning to go.

As Chang Chang nudged one of the necks of the deadbeast, a crystal fell out that she slowly picked up. A reward for a deadly battle. She turned towards the entrance that was now slowly clearing of the invisible energy blocking it before. She pulled the glaive into her soul space and headed towards the entrance. The young blood gasped slowly as she steadied her breath.

The young blood came out to many eyes watching her. First astral weapons in a hundred years. That changed everything. The Chang clan's fortune had increased, so also was their ranking. Those present knew she had received an astral weapon. But the lightning had descended twice. There was no way she could have two soul weapons, could she?

Chang Chang's parents joyfully met their happy daughter and supported her. After their lord uncle, she was the second blood to summon an astral weapon in thousands upon thousands of their clan's recent years. She had made them proud. They would be seeing her soul weapon when they reached home. For now, she had to rest.

Chang Chang was about to depart from the valley when she saw a face that stopped her dead on her track. A face she knew well enough, a face from her recent past she could never forget. The face of a boy who had done her great kindness. The face of a young cultivator the oracle had told her family about.

Ju Feng.