## Liam''s Perspective
Three days. Three days of continuous battle sounds filtering through my meditation chamber. The roars ofbat, explosions of energy, and asional screams of pain prated even these heavily warded walls.
I sat cross-legged, trapped in this safe haven while Mariana Valerius fought for her life outside. And for mine.
"Damn it all," I muttered, mming my fist against the unyielding door for the hundredth time.
Every hour inside this chamber felt like torture. My cultivation progress was meaningless if those I cared about died protecting me. I pressed my ear against the cool surface of the door, straining to hear what was happening.
The sounds had changed. No longer the chaotic din of multiplebatants, but the focused intensity of fewer, more powerful fighters. My spiritual sense detected Mariana''s golden aura—familiar but distressingly weak.
The Spirit Severing Pill. I''d heard of it but never witnessed its effects. A poison specifically designed to cripple the most powerful cultivators by attacking their energy pathways.
And she was fighting through it. For three days straight.
I redoubled my efforts to break through my cultivation bottleneck. If I could reach half-step Martial Marquis, maybe I could break this damned seal. Maybe I could help her.
---
Outside, Mariana Valerius stood at the center of a devastated courtyard. The once-pristine stones were cracked and scorched from three days of relentlessbat. Bodies of lower-ranked attackersy scattered where they had fallen.
Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth as she faced her remaining opponents. Six cultivators surrounded her, all bearing wounds from her counterattacks.
"Impressive endurance," Dudley Lowell remarked, his schrly appearance belying his lethal intent. "Most would have fallen within hours of taking the Spirit Severing Pill."
Mariana didn''t waste energy responding. Her normally immacte robes hung in tatters, revealing glimpses of the protective garment underneath. Her right arm hung slightly lower than her left—a dislocated shoulder she hadn''t had time to properly heal.
Skyler Howe spat blood onto the ground. His once-handsome face was disfigured by a deep cut that would surely scar. "Three days of this nonsense. Just die already!"
"You first," Mariana replied calmly, though her voice carried the roughness of exhaustion.
With startling speed, she lunged at Skyler. Her sword—no longer gleaming but still deadly—shed across his chest before he could fully react. New blood blossomed across his robes.
"Bitch!" he snarled, retaliating with a heavy overhead strike.
Mariana sidestepped, but her movements had slowed. The edge of his de caught her sleeve, opening a shallow cut along her forearm.
Dudley observed with clinical detachment. "The poison progresses. She can''t maintain this pace much longer."
As if to prove him wrong, Mariana executed a spinning technique that forced all six attackers to retreat. Golden energy rippled outward in concentric circles, pushing back the dark miasma that had been trying to encroach on her position.
"Even weakened to thirty percent of her power, she fights like a demon," one of the remaining assassins muttered.
Mariana overheard and allowed herself a grim smile. "You haven''t seen my demonic side yet."
The ground beneath them rumbled as she channeled energy downward. Suddenly, the stone tiles erupted in a precise pattern, forcing her attackers to leap awkwardly to maintain their footing.
Skyler recovered first, charging through the disruption with murderous intent. Mariana met him head-on, their weapons shing in a shower of sparks. For a brief moment, they were locked together, faces inches apart.
"Why protect him?" Skyler hissed. "Knight isn''t worth this."
"You wouldn''t understand loyalty," Mariana replied, before twisting away and delivering a palm strike to his sternum that sent him flying backward.
---
Amotion from the eastern quarter drew Mariana''s attention. Through the haze of battle, she saw two figures emerge—one supporting the other. Her eyes widened in recognition.
"Second Elder!" she called out.
The Second Elder of the Celestial Apothecary Guild was barely conscious, blood soaking through his robes. Supporting him was a junior disciple, terrified but determined.
"Pavilion Master," the disciple cried, "the First Elder attacked him when he refused to reveal your location!"
Fury shed across Mariana''s face. "Tang Wei," she whispered, the name like poison on her tongue.
Taking advantage of her momentary distraction, one of Dudley''s menunched a sneak attack from behind. Without looking, Mariana deflected it with a backward sweep of her sword.
"Get the Second Elder to my personal pavilion," shemanded the disciple. "The formation there will protect him."
"But Master Valerius—" the young man began.
"Go!" she ordered. "Now!"
As they retreated, Mariana created a golden barrier to shield their escape. The effort cost her precious energy, causing her aura to flicker momentarily.
Dudley noticed immediately. "Her control is slipping. Press the advantage!"
Three attackers converged on her simultaneously. Mariana spun, her sword tracingplex patterns that deflected their strikes in rapid session. But where before she would have countered with devastating precision, now she could only defend.
From across the courtyard, a new figure approached—Tang Wei, the First Elder. His hands were stained with the blood of his former colleague.
"I see you''ve fully embraced treachery," Mariana called to him, her voice steady despite her growing exhaustion.
Tang Wei''s expression remained impassive. "I''m saving what can be saved of our Guild. Knight is just one man."
This content originates from *, My Virtual Library Empire.
"And principles are just words?" she countered, deflecting another attack. "Your cowardice disgusts me."
Anger shed across Tang Wei''s face. "Then let me end this farce."
He joined the circle of attackers, bringing their number to seven. Mariana''s odds, already desperate, became nearly impossible.
---
Dawn broke on the third day of continuousbat. The morning light revealed a battlefield of destruction. Where elegant buildings had once stood, only rubble remained. The carefully tended gardens were scorched wastnds.
At the center of it all, Mariana Valerius still fought.
Her movements were no longer graceful. Her legendary precision had given way to grim determination. Yet somehow, impossibly, she continued to hold her ground against opponents who should have overwhelmed her hours ago.
"This ends now," Dudley dered, his patience finally exhausted.
He drew a ck dagger from his robes—a weapon that seemed to drink in the morning light. Without warning, he threw it directly at Mariana''s heart.
She moved to deflect it, but Tang Wei appeared suddenly at her side, grasping her sword arm. The momentary restraint was all it took. She twisted away from the dagger''s lethal path, but it still struck her chest with terrible force.
Pain blossomed across Mariana''s face. Blood appeared at her lips, bright crimson against her pale skin. The internal damage was immediate—her Qi fell into turmoil, disrupted by both the new wound and the poison that had been eating away at her system for days.
She staggered back, finally showing the weakness her enemies had been waiting for.
"Atst," Skyler gloated, stepping forward with renewed confidence.
Mariana raised her head, blood now flowing freely from her mouth. Her eyes, however, remained defiant. "This isn''t over."
Despite her words, everyone present could see the truth. After three days of superhuman endurance, even Mariana Valerius had reached her limit. The poison had weakened her to a critical point, and now this fresh injury threatened to end the standoff.
She swayed on her feet, her legendary golden aura flickering like a candle in a storm. Seven opponents closed in, sensing the kill.
And in my sealed chamber, unaware of how dire the situation had be, I continued my desperate push toward breakthrough, racing against time I didn''t know was running out.