Path Of The Dragon (A Dark Fantasy Cultivation Wuxia Xianxia Progression Series)

Chapter 5 The Stranger

Blue energy poured out of Ming and surrounded them both. It crackled like lightning but felt like a cool mist.

Without warning, Ming rocketed upward. They crashed through the roof of the warehouse, tearing through the metal like tissue paper, and soared high into the sky.

Ming flew faster than before, and the world shrank beneath them. Buildings quickly faded from view, replaced by blue oceans and the continents beneath them, lit by the sparkling lights of millions of homes.

It looked beautiful, and Jie suddenly felt homesick. She turned her gaze away. She had to be strong.

Ming had already made good on his side of the bargain. Now it was her turn.

They journeyed beyond the atmosphere, whipped past satellites, and continued into the darkness of space. They picked up speed as they went until Earth itself shrank to a pale blue dot far in the distance...

Jie could breathe just fine and didn't feel any different at all. Crackling energy surrounded her like a cocoon, and she safely soared through the vacuum of space in the dragon's clutches.

"Let's hope this works. The pain will be unimaginable. But, no matter what, you must hang on to life. Do you understand? If you don't... your soul will drift into the afterlife. The only way to keep it from doing so is to cling to life through it all regardless of how much it hurts. Of how much you yearn for relief. Don't even think of giving up," Ming said.

"Whatever it takes, Ming. You said I'd have to walk through fire and death. This will be the least of what awaits us, right?" Jie said.

Ming smiled. "I was right to choose you, kiddo," he said.

When they'd traveled so far into space that Jie saw only the twinkle of countless stars around them, Ming stopped and weaved his hands in a complex series of motions.

The mist held her while more of the mysterious energy poured from Ming's body. An azure sphere formed around them, covered with magical-looking circles and strange symbols.

She wanted to ask what he was doing, but his teeth were gnashed into a silent snarl and his brow furrowed.

Whatever he was doing, it was more difficult than any miracle he'd shown her so far.

The bubble around them glowed brighter and brighter.

"I had to get us a bit away from your world before I activated this. It wouldn't have been quite as bad as remaking your body, but it would've decimated a few of your countries at least.

"This will connect to the inscriptions the elders prepared for my journey to my home world and carry us back. While it brings us to my home, I will remake your body. Heavens be kind to us..."

He finished with a flourish, and the orb glowed brighter and brighter until it exploded into sparks like stars that shot across the universe.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, she and Ming were yanked forward at mind-bending speed.

The planets and stars around her stretched and warped, her stomach lurched, and Jie clamped her hand over her mouth. Dizziness washed over her, so fierce she couldn't tell up from down.

It was like when her parents took her to the park, and she spent far too long on the merry-go-round. Only about a million times worse.

Still, it wasn't quite as excruciating as she'd expected.

Then she felt it.

Pain. Pain like she'd never thought possible. A thousand times more painful than when those men broke her bones and shattered her spine. It felt like a thousand suns burned away every molecule of her body.