Yin Mei's POV:
My name is Yin Mei and I was betrayed.
I was born as the 2nd young lady of the Yin clan's main family, one of the 9 dragon clans of the 9 dragons alliance.
The Yin clan, unlike most of the world, is a matriarchy, however, being the 2nd eldest daughter of the main branch, I was unlikely to succeed my mother, but I did not mind, for I understood that I was nonetheless blessed. Not only was I born into one of the world's most prestigious families, but one which values women over men. I was gifted with the greatest education, status and wealth that most would only dream of having, and the sacred bloodline of an ancient dragon lord flowing through my veins. As if that was not enough, I was even blessed with a fiancé of equal if not higher pedigree than myself, Yang Ming, the one and only successor to the Yang clan, which was experiencing its golden age under the leadership of my future father-in-law.
Yang Ming. I remember, back in our youth, unlike the usual arrogance common amongst the young masters and ladies of the main families, he seemed to be a gentle and kind-hearted soul, handsome too. Even though our engagement was a political one, decided by our clans at birth, I could not help but fall for him back then.
He may not have been the most impressive young master amongst the 9 clans of our generation, or even amongst the branches of his own clan, in fact, it wouldn't be wrong to say the only reason he was chosen as his clan's successor was his thick bloodline and him being the only child of the current clan head. And yes, his handsome face would eventually age into a wrinkly mess of what it once was due to his lack of talent in cultivation, but I didn't mind, because he was mine, and I was his.
With such a brilliant life, who could want for more? I cannot believe I ever was so naïve.
*Smash**Bang*
*Groaning*
"Hmph! And here I thought ya dragon folk were supposed to be tough!"
"Hmph! What a vulgar woman, right, Sir Ming?"
"…!"
"Sir Ming?"
And that was all it took. I had been fully prepared to dedicate my future to being his spouse, and all it took for his eyes to stray was a battered brute of a woman, emerging from a dirty old tavern which just recently experienced a bar fight. Even still, I chose to burry my dissatisfaction and stay loyal to our engagement out of love. It is not uncommon for men of great status to take on a mistress or two, if only to ensure their bloodline continues, but he …
"I am here to annul our engagement!"
"…? What?!"
One day, he suddenly showed up at the gates of the Yin estate, uttering these words for all to hear.
"Young master Yang, I believe the hot weather may have thrown your mind into a state of confusion! How about you come take a rest indoors to cool down before we continue talking?" One of my clan elders suggested, hinting at wanting to keep this discussion private.
However, the fool simply refused as he prostrated himself before us, as he said.
"I am not so shameless that I would dare step foot inside your home! I understand I am in the wrong, but I cannot betray my own heart any longer! I am a shameless adulterer who fell in love with another woman, and for that I can only beg for your forgiveness!"
Stepping forwards with a superficial smile plastered on her face to conceal the anger underneath, my mother spoke.
"Young man! Your words have consequences! Is your clan aware of-!"
"My father, the Yang clan leader, as well as my other clansmen, have desperately advised me to reconsider breaking off our engagement! I am fully aware I am in the wrong! It is why I am here, kneeling at your gate! The Yang clan will take full responsibility and pay reparations for the broken engagement, and I will be stripped of my current position within the clan as my father's successor! However, I still feel I owe you an apology in person! Let it be known, I, Yang Ming, am solely to blame for this disgrace!" He proclaimed as he pressed his head against the ground.
It hurt. Knowing the man that I loved would go so far as to publicly humiliate himself like this, just to leave me for a savage, but I held in my tears. Like the old saying goes, "if you truly love something, set it free", and I truly did love him back then.
The engagement was broken off, the Yangs paid reparations to my clan, and though I seemed to recall hearing there being some talk of removing him from the clan registry entirely after that public display staining their honour, as the only child of the Yang clan's patriarch and him being a rare case of a dragonewt capable of dragon transformation, his draconic bloodline was deemed too thick to simply discard. Though, he was stripped of the position as the Yang clan's young master, he was permitted to keep his family name, and his children would be considered when deciding his replacement.
In spite of my feelings regarding being stood up by the man I loved, I tried to let go of any grievances I may have had, if only for the sake of maintaining the harmony between our clans. In fact, after an appropriate amount of time had passed, I would even go visit the couple and their children from time to time, bearing gifts, just to prove I had no ill will, but even so…
*Whispering*
"Is that lady Yin May? What is she doing at the Yang clan?"
"You don't know? She used to be engaged with Yang Ming, back when he was the Yang clan's young master!"
"Is she trying to win him back with gifts?"
"There isn't poison concealed in those gifts, right? You know how crazy women can get after being dumped?"
"She wouldn't, right?"
"I don't know. I heard she was so horrible, he went so far as to give up his position in the clan just so he could escape her!"
"I heard, she was so petty, she made him grovel at her gate before agreeing to break off the engagement!"
"I heard she was so foul her ex would rather marry a commoner than her!"
*Whispering*
As the years went by, rumours spread and twisted as they often tend to do, and despite my efforts, people around me started looking at me with disgust and animosity in their eyes, as the reputation of a jilted and vengeful lover was pushed on to me.
I could feel it slipping away. My once blessed life, and my glorious future, was beginning to slip out of my grasp in the wake of those malicious rumours.
As the 2nd young lady of the main family, one of my duties involved getting married to a respectable figure to increase our clan's benefits and create my own branch in the family tree just in case my elder sister or her descendants fail to pass on their genes. However, be they young masters from other clans, lords of other nations, foreign experts, or even experts from our own distant branches with a strong bloodline, I was seen as undesirable. The event of the young master from the Yang clan kneeling at our gates had carried word of my broken engagement as well as the malicious rumours surrounding it, far and wide. Honestly, even without the rumours ruining my reputation, having a broken engagement on my record is already a massive hurdle for a woman when seeking a new partner.
Even though I still remained pure, even though the rumours were wrong, in the eyes of others, I was still viewed as used goods, and there are not a lot of reputable men who would desire another man's sloppy seconds. Though, it is not as if I did not receive any offers, I am the daughter of the Yin clan's matriarch after all, so there are a lot of benefits to marrying me, but they were all less than reputable or morally corrupt. I could not envision a happy end for myself should I have gone along with any of my potential suitors, and so I fiercely resisted the proposals my clan attempted to force upon me.
However, as time went on, the tension only continued to build until eventually…
*Door slamming open*
"Elder sister?! What are you-?"
*Slap*
One day, my dishevelled older sister, the 1st young lady of the Yin clan and the most likely to inherit our mother's position as clan matriarch, threw open the doors to my room and slapped me without a word of warning.
"Elder sister?! I-!"
"Silence!" She barked at me.
She then gestured for the servant behind her to close the doors, so we could talk in private, before continuing.
"Do you believe I do not see through you! Plotting to usurp my position as mother's successor!"
My older sister, driven mad by the pressure that comes with the position she held, had suddenly snapped at me. Taking my resistance to the suitors she and everyone else had prepared for me as a sign of defiance, she had fooled herself into believing I was merely refusing to marry as an excuse to remain within the main family's estate so I could more easily eliminate her. Given who she is, there are a lot of expectations and a lot of pressure placed on her on the regular, as well as any number of people who would like to see her fall, and so, having just survived one of many assassination attempts, but no leads on who was responsible, she snapped and came to blame me.
I understood. I understood that all the accusations, the blame and insults, none of it was real. It was just an excuse she came up with in the heat of the moment to vent, taking out some of her pent-up stress, frustration, and fear from being the target of the spotlight, on one of the few people who wouldn't turn it into something bigger. In fact, this wasn't even the first time she had burst into my room like this, which is why the walls of my room have been equipped with special methods to prevent anyone from spying on us. I knew from experience that once she calmed down, she'd realize none of what she was saying was really true, giving me a short apology before leaving quietly. I understood, but even so…
"No wonder your ex-fiancé was so desperate to leave you! Such a despicable woman you grew up to become! I am ashamed to call you, my sister!"
She was not the only one with pent-up frustrations. My broken heart, the increasing pressure to get married to terrible men, and the malicious rumours that keep ripping open my old scars before they can heal. I am not made of stone, I have feelings too, and that was the straw that broke the camel's back.
"*Sigh* I'm sor-!"
*Splat*
"-ry? …! Mei?"
*Thud*
In an instant, I had blown a whole through my sister's stomach, destroying her cultivation core and killing her. Realizing what I had done I fell to my knees, clutching her body as tears fell from my eyes.
*Sobbing*
I couldn't take it anymore, all the pain, the sorrow, the rage, and I acted on impulse as I attacked my sister. Under normal circumstances, even if I had caught her off guard, my sister was a whole stage above me and cultivating the same element. Though, she might not have come out unscathed from an all-out attack from me, it would not be fatal under normal circumstances, however, she had just survived an attempt on her life and was in a weakened state.
"This can't be real! This! This isn't me! It can't have been me! It's not my fault! ..." I muttered in denial as tears flowed from my eyes.
As my frantic mutterings continued, there was a voice in the back of my mind.
'Then whose fault was it?'
"Who? Who, who, who …" I repeated in a haze as I tried to think of an answer.
Eventually, my gaze wondered towards a partially unfurled scroll that had fallen to the ground when I struck my sister, and my eyes narrowed as I spotted a certain name.
'Yang'
The start to my misery all began there. My broken engagement was the catalyst that started all this. If not for the events of that day, those rumours wouldn't have spread, my reputation wouldn't be in shambles, and I wouldn't have done this. Come to think of it, the Yangs lost a lot of face from that event. Did they spread those malicious rumours to slander me for the sake of their own reputation? Our clans have never been on good terms. It was the reason why I was engaged to Ming in the first place. With things as they are, they could have been involved in the assassination attempts on my sister.
My mind was racing at full speed as I began to see a conspiracy to ruin everything I hold dear.
The man who broke my heart for a lowlife got to enjoy his happily ever after with his lover and children, but in the wake of his wrongdoings, I am left broken, alone, and the blood of my sister on my hands.
I had had enough. I tried, I really did, but this is just too much. I've tolerated these people ruining my life for too long and look at what they did.
"I'll make them pay! All who wronged me! They will all pay!"
"Well said, my descendant!" I heard from the side.
It was the only other person in the room, my sister's personal maidservant, looking at me with a smile on her face. Little did I know that the unassuming maid that had been at my elder sister's side was actually our ancestral dragon in disguise, surveying the clan's ongoings from the side in secret.
"Poor *Static sound*!"
I *Static*. And then she *Static*.
It was on that day which gained the favour of my ancestral dragon, as well as the day marking the inevitable downfall of the Yang clan.
After *Static*, I seized control of the Yin clan through the backing of my ancestor and began planning for what was to come. However, even when I successfully destroyed the Yang clan, it wasn't enough, for the people who ruined me still drew breath, "Ming" and "Ai".
I was certain that at least that common whore would have perished after being denied the heavenly status of which she was never worthy of to begin with, but no. It seems they happened upon some kind of miracle that preserved her life.
Unfortunately, in spite of my desire to bring them down with my own hands, my purpose in coming to the 2nd martial continent, is not purely personal. It is suspected that when they fled the 3rd martial continent, they took with them a very important artifact that has all the 8 clans up in arms. So, when information regarding the hiding place of the remaining Yang clansmen was obtained, I volunteered to go catch them personally.
At the time, I thought just a small force from my clan and myself would have been enough, especially seeing as I would have the three sages on my side due to a bastard daughter of the Yangs having offended them, but I was wrong and things escalated, to a point where I even sent a request for additional forces back home. Unfortunately, that decision was made a little too late.
It is both dangerous and time-consuming to traverse the great continental barrier surrounding the 3rd martial continent. Not only does it interfere with communication crystals so the messages need to be delivered in person, but there are also a very limited number of people who can travel through it without risking death, making it difficult to transport large groups of people across it. Of course, we could have simply utilize the Walpurgis island the sages were so proud of to solve the issue, as it is one of the few vessels capable of passing through it safely, but unfortunately, their target in this conflict had managed to destroy it.
So, when we received information that the target most likely to hold the artifact, Yang Xing, and the pair I personally wish to destroy split up, due to a lack of trustworthy manpower, I had to choose between my mission and my grudge, as the one I did not pick would be handled by one of the sages. It could cause major problems for all the clans if those opportunists realized what it is I am after and took it for themselves, so I had to reluctantly prioritize the mission, and let the pair die at the hands of that elf. Which is why I am currently leading my own personal forces through this foggy forest, in search of my target which was supposed to be stationed somewhere in this area.
"Tsk!"
"Is something the matter your grace?" One of my escorts inquired.
"Hm! It is nothing! I merely find it regrettable the target was not further north is all! Think nothing of it!" I replied.
I may have taken the correct course of action, but it does not mean I am satisfied with my choice. They may be mere mortals, but as the one most closely connected with the group of magicians, I begrudgingly admit they are far more powerful than most immortals. Depending on the situation, one might even consider them on par with heavenly immortals, which they proved back when that one slew the Yang patriarch. There is very little hope for the adulterous pair up north surviving, which means I will not get the chance to take their lives with my own hands. If there is any silver lining to be found, it is that dying at the hands of his father's murderer would surely cause Ming more anguish than if he perished by my hands instead.
"Hm? Halt." I said to my subordinates as I saw something.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a shadow hidden in the fog for only a fraction of a moment. Not long after, directly ahead of us, there was a silhouette resembling the head of a dragon peering at us from within the fog. From what I know, there are only two people left in the Yang clan with thick enough blood to take on the form of a dragon, Ming who should be up north, and our target, Xing.
"Hm? It was about time you came out of hiding, little Xing!" I spoke.
Resentful of the boy's parents as I may be, I almost feel sorry for this one. I cannot say I knew him as well as I did his older siblings during my past visits to their clan before the fall, but I cannot help but feel a twinge of sympathy for the poor boy. A naïve youth betrayed and broken over love. If only he did not have so much of his parents in him and lust after the wrong woman, he could have avoided this.
"If you come out and accept your fate like a man, I will grant you a swift and painless end! Do so, and I will even pardon your siblings!" I spoke.
From what little I do know about this boy is that he cares very much for his elder siblings, an admirable trait, not that they really deserved it. His brother was a traitor plotting to kill him, and his sister is just as barbaric as her mother. However, I'll at least try to honour my word if he does as I say, assuming his sister hasn't perished already. Unfortunately, in response to my offer of mercy, he simply retreated further into the fog.
"*Sigh* Do you really believe you can hide from my-! What?" I muttered in surprise as I found that my 6th sense suddenly did not work.
"AAAAaaaahhh!"
Then suddenly, one of my escorts were pulled into the fog by something, his screams echoing in the distance.
"What?!"
"WhoaAAAaahhhh!"
"LET GO OF meeeee!"
"SHOW YOURSELF YOU COWAAAAaaaahhh!"
One after another, everyone of my escorts were vanishing into the fog.
I attempted to strike at the foe by attacking in the direction my soldiers were vanishing in, but I never seemed to hit my mark. No matter how close in proximity the one getting kidnapped and by proxy, the kidnapper, was to me, I could neither hit nor see a trace of them. Almost as if my people were being grabbed by an invisible and intangible force.
"What?!" I said as it suddenly occurred to me.
"G-G-Ghost! It must be the vengeful spirits of the Yang's ancestors! They're here for revenge!" The idiotic last member of my retinue spoke.
"No, you fool! He is utilizing some kind of enhanced variant of telekinesis!" I spoke in rebuke.
Telekinesis. The power to move things with nothing but the power of one's mind, standard amongst those who has reached the nascent soul. Normally, this ability is too weak to be used offensively, as the force one can usually apply with it tends to be but a fraction of what they're qi provides. If used on a regular mortal, it might be somewhat feasible, but grabbing a resisting cultivator capable of using the same ability would prove rather difficult. However, if you ignore that fact, the ability matches the description perfectly.
Though the ability itself can be acquired through cultivation, telekinesis operates on a different power from which cultivation is based on. Perhaps after his cultivation was crippled, he sought to train this ability to such a monstrous degree he can even toss about my subordinates.
"Ma'am! What are your ordeeeAAAAaaaaaahhh!" My last subordinate screamed as he disappeared into the fog.
"Tsk! Did your parents raise a coward? SHOW YOURSELF! Or are you afraid to face a lone woman!" I shouted into the fog, and finally, I received a reply, though not one I was expecting.
"No, but I think you should be."
Emerging from the vail of the fog, a dragonewt emerged, however, it was not Xing. It was a woman with silver-hair and white horns, sporting a skull-mask.
*Swoosh*
Not wasting any time, I bolted up to her, grabbing her by the throat before she had time to flee and lifted her off the ground.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"Shouldn't you already know?" She replied.
Judging by the colour of her hair and scales, on top of the shape of her horns, I began putting the pieces together. According to the information we received, there is one other person of interest supposed to be in the area, though, she should have been a bit further west.
"The bastard child of the Yangs and Lunaria?"
"Bingo, girly-o! The name's Nox! Nice to meet you!" She said as she held out her hand for a handshake.
"…!"
There was not a hint of tension or distress in her body despite my grasp on her windpipe. Even her pulse seemed oddly calm in this situation.
"So, you gonna leave me hanging? Hello? What, you a germaphobe or something? I promise I've washed my hands!"
"*Chuckle* I was told you were a bit odd, and it would seem to be the truth! Not a single trace of fear or distress even with my hand clutching your throat! Well, no matter! I'll just use you to lure out that father of yours!"
"Oh, the dumbass you're after ain't here!"
"Hm? You think I'm a fool!" we said in unison.
"Oh, sweet naïve, miss puppet, if you weren't, you wouldn't be here being so predictable now, would you?" she said.
"What?" We said in unison.
"*Sigh* People are similar in different ways, and I've seen enough versions of you than I care to admit! Are you mocking me!"
"Are you mo-! What?!" I uttered, in surprise as she beat me to my own words.
"No need to worry, I'm not reading your mind! I mean, I can be classified as a mind reader, but you're so predictable there would be no point in even trying to read your mind!"
"…!"
Feeling slighted, I tightened my grip around her throat to shut her up. Unfortunately, she didn't even seem to notice as she continued prattling on.
"You know, I actually feel a bit bad for you! I heard from the old man, and I mean, I've definitely seen worse ways of handling a break-up, but the old man definitely went about it all wrong! Not only did he screw his own clan over by kneeling in public like that, but he turned the whole thing into a way bigger deal than it needed to be, and well, if the cultural norm where you're from is anything like the double standards of the rest of the world, then you probably got the worse end of that stick on the reputation front, right? So, as the old man's owner, I offer you a superficial "I'm sowwy"! Now, normally, I would have the old man here to apologize too, but he's busy, so please accept this gift card for the Yang Ping's Whore house's grand reopening as a substitute! *Snap*"
"Whoops!"
Seeing as she wouldn't shut up, I steadily increased the pressure around her throat while she was talking, and as she tried handing me a card, there was a snap and her head tilted at a funny angle. I was going to use this girl as a hostage against her father, but I guess there is no point now. That being said, I should probably get rid of her body somewhere before Hillferd shows up. While I was to search for Xing, he was tasked with capturing his bastard granddaughter personally to satisfy his allies, however, if they achieved their objective in coming here, the sages might decide to pull back their forces before I do mine.
"So, you gonna take the coupons for a good time or what?" The girl with a broken neck spoke as she still held the slip of paper.
"Huh?"
"The coupon! I mean, if your still single and your reputation is already in the dumpster, why not right?"
"Are you not a mortal magician? How are you still breathing with your neck broken?"
"Well, that's a dumb question silly!" She said, flipping open the card she tried to give me.
*Spray*
The moment the card opened, some murky liquid suddenly shot out, hitting my face, and I ended up dropping the girl in surprise.
"You think spraying some dirty water in my face will change anything!"
"Well not that much, but damn! Man, no wonder the playboy was so terrified of this stuff, the little critters work fast! Guess I should have run a few more tests on it huh!"
"What are you bloing gon ablout! Huh?" I suddenly began to slur.
"Want a mirror!" She said as she tossed me a full body mirror from her spatial storage.
*Smash*
I grabbed the large mirror out of the air but ended up dropping it to the floor as I was suddenly overcome by a bout of nausea, and it shattered into pieces on the ground. However, looking into one of its shards I could see my face clearly. My face was disintegrating as a massive growth was slowly encompassing my head.
"BLAT IS GIS(WHAT IS THIS)!"
"Playboy repellent!" She said, flipping open the card again, revealing a crude a phallus-shaped spray bottle hidden inside.
"Blat(What)!?"
"Well, you see miss puppet! I'm a magician, and just like any half-decent magician, I am just so full of tricks and surprises!" she said as she pulled out a scaly white ring.
"Blat ish(That is)!"
"Oh me, oh my, what have I here, I wonder! Why, it's the reason you're here, right?"
"Glib meh khat(Give me that)!" I said as I tried to swipe the ring from her hand.
Of course, my sense of balance is a little off, and I ended up ripping off her entire hand in the process, not that it matters since I got what I wanted.
"Huh?"
As I pried the ring from her severed hand, the dragon biting its own tail, the motif of the ring suddenly changed as the head suddenly let go of its tale, looked up at me, opened its mouth and…
*Splash*
Splashed me with even more liquid.
"BLAAARGH!"
"Well, I guess it wasn't, now was it! Now, I wonder where the real one could be?" She said as her hand regenerated at a visible speed.
"Yough likle-!(You little-!)"
"What? Don't like the question? Then how about this one? Does the fraternity of magical goats you teamed up with know what it is you're after?"
"…!"
"Well, at least you're not naïve enough not to blindly trust a bunch of greedy old misers huh!"
"Glai(Die)!" I blurted out as I swung at her, sending out a black ray of darkness in her direction intending to erase her from this earth.
Unfortunately, my aim was off, and she managed to dodge it by a hair's breadth.
"Well, I guess, its good that I told them then?"
"No gif I klill ghou fyst (Not if I kill you first)!" I said as I blasted her with my qi.
However, just as I thought I killed her, I heard a voice right next to my ear. Somehow, the girl I thought I just killed had appeared right behind me, and was leaning her head over my shoulder.
"I said "told" not "tell"! Past tense!"
I was about to elbow her in the stomach, but as my mind processed her words, I froze at the implications as I realized what that meant.
"They're no longer your allies are they now! They're your competitors! And on that note, would you like to play a little game?"