As Hu and Li Hong started doing… something strange with their hands, Kat was simply breathing deeply. She let her mind enter a half meditative state, she could almost see the pond, but her eyes were open and everything stayed in perfect clarity.
Kat took a long breath out, letting the worries over Xiang's fate and what she should do in response leave her body. *I've been doing a rather large amount of stupid things this battle. The only thing I did right was taking those disciples out at the start, and even then, some got back up. Let's see how these brothers handle the same treatment.*
"Fire Arts, Fusion Move, Shining Arrow of Endless Flame!" shouted Hu and Li Hong. From their joined hands, a massive wave of fire shot out, it was a bright white colour, but Kat just readied herself, taking a sprinter's form. When Kat started to feel the flames brushing against her and confirmed they were doing her no damage, she shot forward.
Kat sprinted straight through the centre of flame, speeding up as much as she could in those few steps. *Let's go a little easy on them. This might be too much.* Kat held her arms out as she ran through the two, letting her arms flow backwards for just a few moments to delay the impact with the brothers to give her time to apply her energy coating, before slamming into them both with her palms.
The brothers went flying, they shot away like they'd been launched from a cannon. They looked to continue flying for some time, but that voice from before shouted out. "Gasping hands of Flame!"
Around both Hu and Li Hong, a hand of flames resembling a baseball glove, caught the two and then continued falling backwards with their bodies helping to bleed of their energy so that they wouldn't be injured by the stop or slam into the ground.
*Huh… that might have been overkill. I didn't quite mean to hit them so far. Well, at least they're alive. Their father wouldn't have bothered catching them if they weren't… right?* Kat then heard a long reverberating sigh. "It seems I have underestimated you" said the father.
Kat looked around for the source once again, but what caught her ears was instead a set of slow repeated footfalls. Kat turned around to face the path to the inner compound, past Xiang's 'corpse' and watched as a figure turned the corner.
He resembled the two brothers quite a bit, with the same black hair and long robes… but that is where the similarities ended. The man before Kat had a sharp chin, looking like it was almost a weapon in its own right. His hair, while somewhat messy, had a single streak of vibrant red in it that covered his right eye slightly. The one eye that was fully visible was completely red, with the shade simply changing between sections. A dark red for the pupil, a lighter rose red for the iris and an almost pink colour instead of the normal white of the sclera.
His robes were cut short over the arms, revealing taught muscles, that despite being contained in a somewhat thin frame, twitched slightly in anticipation of the upcoming action. On his back was a rather plain looking bow and arrow combination, but that didn't seem to be his weapon of choice, no that honour went instead to the sword in his hand.
It had a light blue finish, with engraved flames that seemed to burst forth from the handle. The only problem with that… was that Kat was sure those flames moved slightly, with her eyesight, she could see the metal very subtly shifting and moving as it was held. The changes were only small, and someone with weaker eyes would merely be unsettled viewing it, but Kat's eyes were anything but weak, and the changes with minute and erratic, but still very clear.
His robes seemed to be the same plain white the standard disciples would use… however, at the final step he took, he started to glow. Unlike the others where that glow was a pure white, this man's glow had a tinge of red that bled into the white outfit, making it look as if it was backlit by a glowing fire.
"It seems, I have not trained my sons well enough. Please forgive me for that young cultivator" said the man, taking a deliberate step forward and stomping down on Xiang's leg. There was a cracking noise that rang out, but Kat held her face still. She had watched the motion coming, and decided it would be better if he thought it didn't make her uncomfortable, or worse, realise Xiang wasn't quite as dead as he appeared.
"I'm not really a cultivator" said Kat hoping to buy yet more time. The bit she managed to buy from the brothers wasn't even enough to bring back a quarter of her reserves. Now she sat just below halfway after what she spent to finish the brothers off. However, the man in front of her had a presence, almost a physical thing that tried to press down on her. While Kat's own aura could shrug it off, it was still a noticeable weight, and like nothing she'd felt outside of Minor's dream and those few times Thyme had done something truly impressive.
*This man must be strong. It's nothing compared to Thyme's power… I don't think… but I'm honestly not sure if half is enough.* "Oh? You claim some other source for your abilities? Reliant on a bloodline perhaps?" said the man.
Kat smiled *Keep him talking.* "I suppose I could tell you, but why not state your name first? I can hardly keep calling you 'their father' in my head, now can I?" said Kat hoping to bait him to answer as she knew Li Hong did. If this man really was their father, she was hoping that's where he learned the habit.
"Ah, of course. I suppose someone who can defeat both of my sons in a single move does deserve that honour, even if you seem to be resistant to fire… well, nevermind. My name is Li Xiaolong, but for an opponent such as you, I suppose I can allow you to call me Xiao" said Xiao with a smile.
*Perfect, the monologuing gene is hereditary.* "Well, as I'm sure you already heard, my name is Kat" Xiao nodded "and my resistance… well… I guess you could say it comes from a bloodline? It depends on how you define the term. My immunity is certainly hereditary but I feel as though you are referring to it in a different way" said Kat
Xiao looked Kat up and down. There was nothing sexual about it, the gaze was closer to a master craftsman examining his competitor's tools. "I see… perhaps. A bloodline is something hereditary it is true, but for the powerful, it is quite common to find and merge with one as you grow in strength. I have gained the bloodline of the vermillion bird for my service to the sect… but… I don't recognise what yours could be" said Xiao
Kat smiled. *Well… I have no idea how you can gain a bloodline… don't you either have it or not? How would you gain one? Though… I suppose… is that what Lily is doing? System?*
It is possible to give Accomplice Lily a bloodline, but that is not the process User Kat and Accomplice Lily are looking into currently.
*Well that doesn't clear anything up does it. Can I ask for more information? He does seem to like to brag a bit.* "So, a vermillion bird bloodline? How does one gain such a thing? Or even a bloodline in the general?"
Xiao burst out in laughing "HAhahahahaha. You must be a long way from home girl, to not even know that much. I suppose I am asking about your own power, so I will humour you if you promise to provide your own answer?" Kat waited for a few moments, making it look like she was considering his words to buy a few additional seconds of regeneration. Her energy was recovering now, and it was climbing steadily.
"I suppose I find that to be an acceptable trade" said Kat making the sentence as long as she reasonable could.
"Ha, an acceptable trade she says. A very proper missy you are. See, to gain a bloodline, you need to drink the blood of a powerful beast. One that has kept its own strength for generations without dying out. This is common knowledge of course, but you need to pick carefully. You don't want some random spark wolf or gale bird that has to cultivate itself. No, you want something like my vermilion bird which is BORN powerful. Their bloodline drags their strength up, as it will for those who ingest it.
"Additionally, you need to match your cultivation technique to it. A fire aspected beast like the vermilion bird needs you to cultivate the flames arts and build your internal flame resistance else it will simply cook you alive"