She ran into the forest where the high trees would keep her out of sight from the bird. She went and sat by a tree exhaustedly on seeing through a small crack in the canopy the black bird retreating back to the clan. She unslung the makeshift bag she made from strips of cloth tied to the bundle of ashes and put his ashes beside her.
"Now, let's see why you broke shall we" she channelled her Qi into the sword but this time just a small sliver of it to inspect the blade. On seeing the problem, her eye couldn't help but twitch. She poured too much energy into it this breaking all the formations in the white crystal. Her spiritual energy was almost fivefold her previous one when she didn't yet have a martial spirit and, coupled with its current purity which far surpassed her level, it was only understandable it wouldn't handle the flux.
Too much pure energy was lethal to spiritual artifacts, though in right amount, the power brought out is significantly higher. She practiced channeling energy till she achieved a somewhat perfect state. A red flame burned along it's edge dazzlingly. She cut the energy flow, well satisfied by the results."though it's in a way broken now, it's primary function is still intact at least, amplification. It will still give me an edge in any battle"
"Enough of this, I need to find a proper place to scatter his ashes" though it would be painful to return to the scene of his death, it was her only other option. Zhao Weng stayed in the clan his whole life but she couldn't be at peace leaving his ashes in such place. Surely he wouldn't like that as well.
She planned to scatter his ashes where he died, the barren charred lands. She reached the grounds in under ten minutes. On seeing the wasteland, she couldn't help but look away, the horrid scene of his death still haunting her, replaying in her mind over and over. She took a deep calming breath to stop her head from spinning and walked deeper into the field.
Lightning qi filled the area so much that the air felt static. She got to the depression and scattered his ashes widely. Leaving the rest to the wind and the earth, she prayed silently for the samsara of life and death to ascend him to a realm without this suffering and hatred.
She exited the wasteland, feeling some semblance of peace knowing she gave him a proper send off, one with love and respect. She went on towards the west. The forest cover was starting to get thicker as she progressed but she didn't take it to heed as she was lost in thought, thinking about all she had lost in that day.
Her clan, her home, her family and the one she loved, all gone in less than a day's span. She couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh. Evening was in passing and dusk was slowly setting in. The orange rays resonated with the forlorn look on her visage, painting a lonely figure, alone in the world and all it's cruelty.
Faint clopping sounds could be heard in the distance. She was too caught up in her thoughts to take notice of them. She hadn't noticed the trampling of hooves until they stopped directly in front of her. She felt a blast of warm breath on her scalp blowing strands of her hair in all directions. She lifted her slumped head to see the creature that stood before her.
A large springbok with a black coat and yellow stripes all through it's body. It's muscular body emanated great innate strength. It had long horns that curved as they curled back and up. It's yellow eyes held deep rage and occasional flickers of lightning within.
It moves for a headbutt but she drew the flat part of her sword to block and use the momentum to create some distance. She was flung back a few meters from the force but luckily sustained no injury whatsoever. "A rank 1 Thunderhoof! What is it doing this side of the forest?!"
She thought for a moment but it suddenly came to her, "It most have been attracted to the lightning qi the phenomena carried!" She thought as she evaded it's charge.
She hopped back thrice and charged her Qi into her blade, causing the bright flame to emerge again. She took stance and waited for it's next charge. The Thunderhoof charged at her with arcs of lightning jumping all over its body. She scoffed at it's primitivity and side stepped followed by a flaming stab. The sword connected with the hip of the beast but since she hadn't used enough power, it only went in half-a-finger deep.
It's reaction speed was not one bit slower as all the arcs of lightning moved towards her sword and blasted it, along with it's wielder, back. She was mildly stunned by the shock but other than some numbness she was unharmed. This mild shock was all the Thunderhoof needed to perform it's next attack. It lowered it's horns and absorbed a lot of lightning qi. The concentrated qi gathered on its horns. It lowered it's head, it's eyes still fixated on her and charged at her.
She came to her senses and found two lightning laden horns rushing towards her. She channelled more qi and the flame on the sword grew bigger, darker, adopting a dark orange colour. She swung her sword in a cross technique, mimicking a technique she once saw her father using. The cross flame arcs shot towards the beast matching it's speed and clashed with it in a small explosion. It was stopped and burned a little but with an enraged bellow, it picked up it's speed and continued the charge.
She was a little shocked but she didn't give up. She waited until it was close enough and channeled the most qi she could. The black crystal shattered and a scarlet flame covered the sword. Between the flame's aggressive yet liquid like movement, some strands of black energy could be seen. She leapt in the air successfully dodging the charge and spun in the air with the sword and hacked it's neck. It all happened in an instant. The outcome was a deep gash in the beast's neck and Zhao Ling getting flung into a tree by it's desperate tries to get her off it.
It's eyes went bloodshot as some black energy was ravaging it's body from the inside out. The sword was still lodged in it's neck. The creature emitted desperate cries as it thrashed around trying to dislodge the sword. It succeeded but the damage was done, it's life was inevitably coming to an end. A crazy look suddenly emerged in it's eyes as it started absorbing lightning qi insanely. Zhao Ling stood up weakly. She stared dazedly at her hand which had just made contact with her head. She had never bled so much before and feeling so much of it coming from her head was far from reassuring.
Her attention was brought to the Thunderhoof by the frantic absorption of the beast. It was absorbing way beyond it's capacity. "This bastard is trying to take me down with it!" She noticed a chaotic spark between it's horns, as if it was charging something. The chaotic spark was only growing bigger and bigger by the second, at some point it started chipping away at the horns of the Thunderhoof. The spark grew to a ball of pure, chaotic lightning energy .
She felt the unbridled destructive power of the melon sized ball of lightning and immediately gathered all her defenses. She channelled her elemental qi to form three large illusory shields that gave off an astounding sturdiness. This still felt insufficient though and she began channelling her martial spirit. One large flaming tail emerged behind her alongside the fox ears. The tail wrapped around her forming an impregnable last line of defense. She crossed her arms in front of her and braced for impact.
The creature's horns had web like cracks seemingly unable to take any more. It lowered its head and took aim; with a jerk of its head, it shot off the ball of lightning which released crisp electric sounds as it flew at thunderous speeds, tearing through the first to third shields with some effort and crashed into the tail defense.
The tail steadily held up but not for long as the ball of lightning started flickering. The pure lightning elemental energy couldn't maintain its purity with the common elemental energies extant everywhere thus it started becoming unstable. An explosion blasted the tail defense to embers and blew her into a tree.
She was nearly coiled around the tree by the sheer force. She coughed out three mouthfuls of blood and leaned on the tree with great difficulty due to the immense pain and agony. She glared at the Thunderhoof with spite but deep within was helplessness. She was practically defenseless right now. The bloodshot eyes of the Thunderhoof got even more pronounced as it started a final desperate stampede, abandoning all rationale and life to take down the human. If it missed or landed the hit, death was assured.
"Got....to .....get....up!" She thinks but her body was completely drained. She fell to the ground, looking on with resentment but deep set resignation in her eyes. "So this is how I die? Slain by a Rank 1 creature? How pathetic" she laughs self-mockingly.